Page 149 - S. Ličen, I. Karnjuš, & M. Prosen (Eds.). (2019). Women, migrations and health: Ensuring transcultural healthcare. Koper, University of Primorska Press.
P. 149
Monoligual Health?
available and free of charge for the patient, medical personnel was unwilling
to contact her. Contrary to that, the midwife understood the significance of
engaging the interpreter and even showed respect towards patient’s native
language by learning some basic words. Similar attitude is present among
many other healthcare workers that show an increased interest in collab-
orating with interpreters/intercultural mediators as the already mentioned
national survey demonstrates. For example, the most frequent answer (n =
271 out of 564) to the question ‘What would help you bridging linguistic and
other barriers when dealing with users who do not speak Slovene?’ was:
‘the introduction of interpreters/intercultural mediators’⁸ (Lipovec Čebron,
in press).⁹
Lack of Information on Healthcare Rights
Lack of information on patient rights, organization of healthcare system and
use of health service can be seen as general problem among migrants/ref-
ugees with different legal statuses in Slovenia (Bofulin & Bešter, 2010 p. 272).
The problem that migrant population is not adequately informed was raised
also in the Country report for Slovenia: ‘Lack of information about entitle-
ments is a serious barrier to exercising them: people who do not know their
rights cannot claim them. [. . .] This situation is made worse when legisla-
tion is complex and changes rapidly. There is no systematic dissemination
of information concerning entitlements and use of health service for the
migrant population. [. . .] However, since the information is difficult to find,
access to it depends on personal initiative and motivation.’ (MIPEX, 2015 p.
17). Similar conclusions are found in a quantitative research on health of mi-
⁸ The others suggested information support in the form of mobile applications and online trans-
lation tools and the multilingual handbook for basic medical treatment as well as the training
in the field of cultural competences.
⁹ Not only should healthcare workers be aware of the importance of interpreters/intercultural
mediators in healthcare setting, they should also be trained to successfully collaborate with
them: ‘Simple recommendations for working effectively with interpreters include the need to
warn the interpreter prior to the meeting if sensitive information will be discussed and a proper
introduction of the interpreter to the patient that promotes collegiality and delineates roles
and expectations. All parties should be positioned so that the clinician and patient can main-
tain proper eye contact throughout the interview, and, finally, both the physician and inter-
preter should use short phrases devoid of jargon. Asking the patient to repeat what he or she
has understood, and having the interpreter “back translate” the content, provides an additional
tool to check the accuracy of translation as well as the patient’s understanding (B. Lubrano, R.
Brown, C. Bylund, et al., personal communication)’ (Schapira et al., 2008). For more information
see Kocijančič Pokorn and Lipovec Čebron (in press) and International Medical Interpreters As-
sociation (2017).
147
available and free of charge for the patient, medical personnel was unwilling
to contact her. Contrary to that, the midwife understood the significance of
engaging the interpreter and even showed respect towards patient’s native
language by learning some basic words. Similar attitude is present among
many other healthcare workers that show an increased interest in collab-
orating with interpreters/intercultural mediators as the already mentioned
national survey demonstrates. For example, the most frequent answer (n =
271 out of 564) to the question ‘What would help you bridging linguistic and
other barriers when dealing with users who do not speak Slovene?’ was:
‘the introduction of interpreters/intercultural mediators’⁸ (Lipovec Čebron,
in press).⁹
Lack of Information on Healthcare Rights
Lack of information on patient rights, organization of healthcare system and
use of health service can be seen as general problem among migrants/ref-
ugees with different legal statuses in Slovenia (Bofulin & Bešter, 2010 p. 272).
The problem that migrant population is not adequately informed was raised
also in the Country report for Slovenia: ‘Lack of information about entitle-
ments is a serious barrier to exercising them: people who do not know their
rights cannot claim them. [. . .] This situation is made worse when legisla-
tion is complex and changes rapidly. There is no systematic dissemination
of information concerning entitlements and use of health service for the
migrant population. [. . .] However, since the information is difficult to find,
access to it depends on personal initiative and motivation.’ (MIPEX, 2015 p.
17). Similar conclusions are found in a quantitative research on health of mi-
⁸ The others suggested information support in the form of mobile applications and online trans-
lation tools and the multilingual handbook for basic medical treatment as well as the training
in the field of cultural competences.
⁹ Not only should healthcare workers be aware of the importance of interpreters/intercultural
mediators in healthcare setting, they should also be trained to successfully collaborate with
them: ‘Simple recommendations for working effectively with interpreters include the need to
warn the interpreter prior to the meeting if sensitive information will be discussed and a proper
introduction of the interpreter to the patient that promotes collegiality and delineates roles
and expectations. All parties should be positioned so that the clinician and patient can main-
tain proper eye contact throughout the interview, and, finally, both the physician and inter-
preter should use short phrases devoid of jargon. Asking the patient to repeat what he or she
has understood, and having the interpreter “back translate” the content, provides an additional
tool to check the accuracy of translation as well as the patient’s understanding (B. Lubrano, R.
Brown, C. Bylund, et al., personal communication)’ (Schapira et al., 2008). For more information
see Kocijančič Pokorn and Lipovec Čebron (in press) and International Medical Interpreters As-
sociation (2017).
147
