Certified Medical Interpreters' Perspectives on Relationship-Centered Communication in Safety-Net Care

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Communication
• Sociolinguistics

Background:

• Interpreters offer unique insights into improving clinician communication.
• Relationship-centered communication (RCC) curricula aim to enhance patient-clinician and team interactions.
• Effective communication is crucial in safety-net settings for diverse patient populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To solicit feedback from certified medical interpreters on existing RCC skills training.
• To identify opportunities for optimizing RCC training for interpreted medical encounters.
• To improve the quality of safety-net care through enhanced communication.

Main Methods:

• A 90-minute workshop was conducted with 22 certified interpreters representing diverse language backgrounds.
• An editing analysis style was applied to transcribed interpreter quotes.
• Thematic analysis identified key areas for improving RCC skills training.

Main Results:

• Interpreters stressed the importance of creating a supportive environment for safety-net patients.
• Feedback highlighted needs for better agenda-setting, rapport-building, and understanding patient perspectives.
• Interpreters emphasized the utility of techniques like teachback to ensure patient comprehension.

Conclusions:

• Collaborating with medical interpreters can significantly enhance clinician RCC skills.
• Optimized RCC training can lead to more effective patient-interpreter-clinician interactions.
• This partnership approach can improve healthcare delivery in diverse, safety-net settings.