The Mental Health of the Medical Interpreter – Before, Now and Beyond

Speaker:

Maria Dunkley is a freelancer translator, interpreter and live subtitler based in Glasgow, Scotland, who works from French & German into English. She holds a BA in Modern Languages and an MA in Translation and Interpreting, and specialises in the medical sphere, with a passion for medical interpreting. During her MA, as she prepared to delve into the world of professional interpreting, she discovered the multitude of issues that surround medical interpreting. Therefore, she decided to focus her MA dissertation on the mental health of medical interpreters, and was honoured to win a prize for the best dissertation in interpreting and translation at the University of Surrey. Maria now hopes to use this work to spread awareness of the issues reflected in her research, and looks to a future where medical interpreters feel supported and valued in their vital work.

Abstract:

Medical interpreting is vital to ensure that patients with limited English proficiency and healthcare professionals can communicate effectively. However, interpreting in healthcare settings presents a wide range of challenges for interpreters, and with the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changing the way in which people live and work in the UK, interpreters have been faced with a whole new set of challenges. Despite this, there is a lack of research on how the challenges faced by interpreters in healthcare settings impact their mental health.

This presentation is based on Maria’s MA dissertation submitted to the University of Surrey in 2022. Her research focuses on the impact of medical interpreting on the interpreter’s mental health and the strategies and support interpreters use to look after their well-being. It also analyses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the medical interpreter’s work and subsequently their mental health. Interviews were conducted with four experienced medical interpreters and a thematic approach was used to identify patterns in the interpreters’ experiences. The key research findings suggest that the challenges of interpreting in healthcare settings, such as interpreting difficult conversations between healthcare professionals and patients, can have a negative impact on the interpreter’s mental health. Furthermore, interpreters expressed being negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as they faced further challenges, such as the shift to remote interpreting and a decrease in workload.

Therefore, coping strategies and support are key to supporting the interpreter’s mental health. Despite this, a significant lack of mental health support was found through her research, and interpreters expressed the desire for more support to prevent symptoms of vicarious trauma.

But how can we provide support to interpreters in a post-covid world? This presentation will use the findings from Maria’s research to look into the future of medical interpreting, and how we can continue to support interpreters in the vital work they do.