"I don't know, I'm just the interpreter": a first approach to the role of healthcare interpreters beyond bilingual medical encounters
Research on role in healthcare interpreting has always been a recurrent theme in the literature, with a particular focus on the very act of the medical consultation. Consequently, the role that interpreters enact in other activities in which they also participate (e.g. accompanying patients) has com...
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universidad de Alcalá (UAH) |
| Repositorio: | e_Buah Biblioteca Digital Universidad de Alcalá |
| Idioma: | español |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ebuah.uah.es:10017/63943 |
| Acesso em linha: | http://hdl.handle.net/10017/63943 https://dx.doi.org/10.24310/TRANS.2021.v1i25.10128 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Healthcare interpreting Interpreter-mediated events Role Participant observation Thematic analysis Interpretación sanitaria Actividades mediadas por intérprete Papel Observación participante Análisis temático Filología Philology |
| Resumo: | Research on role in healthcare interpreting has always been a recurrent theme in the literature, with a particular focus on the very act of the medical consultation. Consequently, the role that interpreters enact in other activities in which they also participate (e.g. accompanying patients) has comparatively received scant attention. This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the interpreter’s role in these areas. Drawing on participant observation, we examined the roles enacted by five healthcare interpreters in activities different to provider-patient consultations involving an interpreter that occurred over a period of five months in a Madrilenian hospital (Spain). Thematic analysis allowed for the identification of five emerging roles: mediator, patient advocate, institutional navigator, healthcare ambassador and conversation partner. A key finding is that most events in which interpreters of the sample participate take place outside consultations rooms, which makes it essential to shift the attention to the roles they play in these alternative events. Examining the role of interpreters in different activities within the realm of healthcare provision is essential to construct an accurate vision of what being just an interpreter really means. |
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