Involvement, trust and topic control in interpreter-mediated healthcare encounters

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Sociology
• Healthcare Communication

Background:

• Interpreter-mediated healthcare encounters present unique communication challenges.
• Building rapport and trust across language barriers is crucial for effective patient care.
• Previous research has explored these encounters as interactions, but less focus has been on participant orientation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how participants communicate involvement in interpreter-mediated healthcare encounters.
• To demonstrate how relational exchange is affected by participant orientation towards each other.
• To explore the consequences of participants' orientation towards the interpreter on involvement and topic control.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of audio-recorded and transcribed naturally occurring discourse data.
• Focus on two specific healthcare encounters involving a Swedish-speaking care provider, a young mother (Spanish or Russian speaking), and a professional interpreter.
• Examination of how participants orient to one another as conversational partners.

Main Results:

• Participant orientation significantly impacts the relational exchange in healthcare encounters.
• When primary participants orient towards the interpreter as a conversational partner, it can affect interpreter involvement and topic control.
• Shared and mutual focus between patients and physicians is vital for building rapport and trust across language barriers.

Conclusions:

• The way participants orient to each other, including the interpreter, profoundly influences communication dynamics.
• Encouraging direct focus between patient and provider, rather than solely on the interpreter, is key to overcoming language barriers.
• This study highlights the importance of interactional dynamics in fostering trust and effective communication in multilingual healthcare settings.