Guideline 9: Family carers as interpreters

9 out of 10

When using an interpreter, try to remain focused on the patient.

When engaging professional interpreters, strategies include⁵⁹:
- Briefly meeting with the interpreter beforehand to discuss potential cultural barriers.
- Maintaining eye contact with the patient rather than the interpreter.
- Using non-verbal strategies such as diagrams and pictures to supplement oral information.

If you are interested in learning more about Effective Cultural Communication in Oncology, please visit https://edumodules.eviq.org.au/Resources/CALD/Intro/EG../index.html

The procedure for requesting a clinical review varies by state/territory and between hospitals. Click on your state or territory below to read more.

Click the + button below for additional information on the use of interpreters outside of the consultation setting.

It is important that interpreters are engaged in situations where communication between the doctor, patient and family is essential, such as when the patient is receiving pre- and post- operative instructions, during consent discussions, when the patients is being admitted, transferred or discharged, during end of life discussions and when treatments are being explained. (https://www1.health.nsw.gov.au/pds/ActivePDSDocuments/PD2017_044.pdf)
Often these conversations won’t take place in consultation rooms, e.g. they may be at the patient’s bedside in an inpatient setting, but steps should be taken to book interpreters to be present when it is known these discussions will be taking place.
If the conversation is unplanned or you haven’t booked an interpreter, staff can ring the national Translating and Interpreting Service to get a phone interpreter on the spot.
If there is a bilingual clinician, it is not recommended that they act as an interpreter, but rather give the instructions, provided their language skills are sufficient. As a rule of thumb, this means they completed high school in their own country, in other words they were immersed in their language of origin.

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