Brynn LiaBraaten, “Available Resources and Supports for Spoken Language Interpreters in Pediatric Medical Encounters”
Mentors: W. Hobart Davies, Amy Olen, and Paulina Lim, Psychology

Pediatric medical interpreters often experience distress due to work-related stressors, including interpreting traumatic content. Despite the prevalence of interpreted medical encounters, research on supports and resources for interpreters are practically nonexistent. Although some studies have explored available resources, these have only been investigated in patient trauma/abuse settings. The purpose of this study is to expand upon existing research of resources and supports for interpreters to manage their distress, and to identify possible gaps and barriers in resource availability. This study is part of a larger project investigating interpreters’ perspectives on distressed families in pediatric interpreted medical encounters. Thirteen interpreters from the Language Services Department at Children’s Wisconsin were interviewed for this project. Participants were asked, “What resources do you know of that you can use to minimize feeling distressed after interpreting for families?”, “Which of those do you use?” and “What are the barriers to accessing those resources?” Participants were also asked, “What resources and supports for interpreters do you think should be made available in the hospital to decrease feeling distressed in this line of work?” Interpreters reported several known resources, including in-house therapists, chaplains, coworkers, bereavement specialists, the hospital’s Children’s Connect site, as well as their own personal self-care. Interpreters identified a lack of training in coping and little opportunity for debriefing after distressing encounters as factors impacting their ability to manage distress. Additional barriers to accessing these resources related to both interpreter and resource specialist time and scheduling. The importance of this study lies in its identification of resources available to interpreters, as well as the barriers to accessing them. Continued research in this area has the potential to identify important interventions supporting interpreter management of distress. Expanding upon existing resources to support more interpreters with diverse needs may be vital to interpreter wellbeing.