Interpreters in Health CareLanguage barriers and the use of interpreters in the public health services. A questionnaire-based survey
Section snippets
Background
During the last few decades, Norway has become increasingly multicultural; almost half a million immigrants account for 10.6% of the total population. In Oslo, 26% of the population is immigrants, the highest proportion in Norway [1]. A consequence of these demographic changes is the challenge in integrating immigrant groups into existing health-care services; the language barrier is the primary challenge for meeting the health-care needs of the immigrant population.
The negative consequences of
Methods
The data were collected using a structured questionnaire, in a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The questionnaire, originally developed and applied by linguist Mette Rudvin and colleagues in Italy [26], was translated and adapted for use as a tool for collecting data in this cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted in Norway. Its 36 questions were organized under three sections: the first focused on the need for language assistance and the use of interpreters; Section 2 focused on the
Results
Below, we present the results based on the thematic sections from the questionnaire.
Discussion
This study aimed to develop a general picture of how health-care workers deal with language barriers, common practices in using interpreter services, knowledge about and expectations of interpreters and evaluation of their own competency needs as well as the competency of the interpreters. In agreement with earlier studies [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [8], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], this study indicates that professional language assistance remains underutilized in the health-care sector.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Acknowledgements
We want to thank all the health-care providers for their participation in the survey. We would like to thank Prof. Nora Ahlberg, former director of NAKMI, and psychiatrist Carl Ivar Dahl for their generous support and encouragement; Mette Rudvin, Karin Harsløf Hjelde, and Thor Indseth for their valuable comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript; Claire Mock-Munoz de Luna and Jennifer Gerwing for helping with the language; and Cathrine Brunborg for the statistical analysis.
Contributors: EK
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