Josie Carballido, “You Just Cry With Them: Interpreters’ Distress and Coping in Pediatric Medical Encounters”
Mentors: Amy Olen, Translation & Interpreting and Hobart Davies, Psychology
Poster #31

Effective medical communication leads to increased trust, a decrease in family stress, and improved quality of care. Pediatric medical interpreters play an important role in effective communication in a medical encounter. Interpreting is a four-step process involving listening, analyzing the message, converting the message, and delivering the message. Though there is some existing research on interpreter distress and coping in other fields, there is little research in a pediatric setting. In this study, we describe the sources of pediatric medical interpreter distress as well as the coping strategies they have developed. Participants were thirteen Spanish-English spoken language interpreters from a midwestern children’s hospital with at least two years of experience in pediatric interpreting. Participants were asked to complete a demographic survey and a virtual qualitative interview. Transcripts from the interviews were coded using a thematic analysis approach. Results showed that pediatric medical interpreters experience distress when interpreting for intense encounters. High intensity clinics, interpreting content that relates to their life, and going from one encounter to the next were some contributors to distress. The leading coping strategy for interpreters in dealing with their distress is the use of their colleagues. However, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a perceived barrier to this resource. A potential strategy in combating the barrier and interpreter distress is an increase in the training interpreters receive on HIPAA guidelines as well as equitable access to supports and resources provided by the hospital. Providing interpreters with thorough training and adequate access to supports will lead to improved mental health outcomes for patients, families, and interpreters, thus, increasing the effectiveness of communication in an interpreted medical encounter. Developing a complete training plan and implementing the necessary supports in hospitals is a potential future direction for this project.