Rethinking Interpreter Functions in Mental Health Services.

Area of Science:

• Medical Interpreting
• Psychiatric Care
• Health Equity

Background:

• Interpreters are crucial for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP).
• However, some studies indicate potential deficits in cultural understanding, relationship quality, and patient satisfaction compared to language-concordant care.
• Expanding interpreter roles beyond linguistic conversion may mitigate these issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of expanded interpreter roles on the quality of interpreter-mediated psychiatric evaluations.
• To explore how clarifying interpreter roles and session structure affects provider-interpreter collaboration.
• To assess the benefits of enhanced collaboration on patient assessment and therapeutic alliance.

Main Methods:

• Pilot study involving 25 psychiatric outpatients with LEP.
• Evaluations conducted with interpreter mediation.
• Focus on clarifying interpreter roles (e.g., clarifier, cultural broker, advocate/mediator) and session structure.

Main Results:

• Clarification of interpreter roles and session structure improved provider-interpreter collaboration.
• Enhanced collaboration led to improved patient assessment through elicitation of clinically relevant information.
• Stronger therapeutic alliances were formed via "emotion work" by interpreters.

Conclusions:

• Expanding interpreter roles beyond simple linguistic conversion can significantly enhance interpreter-mediated care.
• Effective provider-interpreter collaboration is key to improving psychiatric evaluations for LEP patients.
• Strategies to foster collaboration can lead to better clinical information gathering and a stronger therapeutic alliance.