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- Patriksson, Katarina, 1964, et al.
(author)
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Conditions for communication between health care professionals and parents on a neonatal ward in the presence of language barriers
- 2019
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In: International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1748-2623 .- 1748-2631. ; 14:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: Family-centred neonatal care views parents and child as a unit, and aims to support each family on the basis of its specific needs. Good communication can increase parents' satisfaction and reduce tension, and is necessary to create a mutual trustful relation, but is influenced by language barriers. We aimed to describe communication between neonatal health care professionals and parents in the presence of language barriers. Methods: A field study using a hermeneutic lifeworld approach, participative observation, and interviews with parents and health care professionals. Results: The main theme, endeavouring to understand the meaning behind the words, comprised three themes. Wanting to speak for oneself meant that parents wanted to speak for themselves or call on a friend or multilingual health care professionals, in contrast to the health care professionals wish to use an interpreter. Being aware of cultural keys meant that some wards had access to a "cultural broker" to assist health care professionals and parents with both language translation and understanding of the Swedish health care environment. Understanding one another in the employees' arena reflected varying language skills among health care professionals. The health care professionals had the power to decide the level of access to communication, and decided both the intensity and the frequency of the conversations. Conclusions: Health care professionals preferred to use an interpreter when communicating with parents, while parents wished to be independent and speak for themselves. If an interpreter was used, parents preferred this to be a friend or health care professionals; this option was less popular among health care professionals.
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| 2. |
- Patriksson, Katarina, 1964, et al.
(author)
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Health care professional's communication through an interpreter where language barriers exist in neonatal care: a national study
- 2019
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In: BMC Health Services Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1472-6963. ; 19:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background A number of parents in neonatal care are foreign-born and do not speak the local language, which makes communication between healthcare professionals and parents more difficult. Interpreters can be used when language barriers exist - parent interactions, medical communication and communication about the care of the child. The aim in this study was to examine healthcare professionals' use of interpreters and awareness of local guidelines for interpreted communication in neonatal care. Method A survey was distributed to all 2109 employees at all 38 neonatal units in Sweden, thus to all physicians, registered nurses and nurse assistants in active service. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and dichotomized so the professionals were compared in groups of two using the Mantel-Haenszel Chi Square test and Fisher's Non Parametric Permutation test. Results The survey was answered by 41% (n = 858) representing all neonatal units. The study showed a difference between the professional groups in awareness of guidelines, availability of interpreters, and individual resources to communicate through an interpreter. Nurse assistants significantly lesser than registered nurses (p < .0001) were aware of guidelines concerning the use of interpreters. In emergency communications nurse assistants used authorized interpreters to a significantly lesser extent than physicians (p < .0001) and registered nurses (p < .0001). Physicians used authorized interpreters to a significantly higher extent than registered nurses (p 0.006) and non-authorized interpreters to a significantly lesser extent than registered nurses (p 0.013). In planned communications, nurse assistants used authorized interpreters to a significantly lesser extent than physicians (p < .0001) and registered nurses (p < .0001). Nurse assistants rated their ability to communicate with parents through an interpreter to a significantly lesser extent than physicians (p 0.0058) and registered nurses (p 0.0026). No other significant differences were found. Conclusion The results of the study show insufficient awareness of guidelines in all neonatal units in Sweden. Clinical implications might be to provide healthcare professionals with guidelines and training clinical skills in using interpreters and increasing the availability of interpreters by having interpreters employed by the hospital.
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| 3. |
- Patriksson, Katarina, 1964
(author)
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Säg till om du önskar tolk - Kommunikation i neonatalvård mellan föräldrar och vårdpersonal när språkbarriärer föreligger
- 2019
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Family-centred neonatal care encourages parents to participate in the care of their child. When language barriers exist between healthcare personnel and parents, a third party is needed to achieve satisfactory communication. Difficulties in direct communication increase the risk of misunderstanding between healthcare personnel and parents, and may lead to elevated anxiety among parents. The overarching objective of this dissertation was to increase knowledge concerning the communication difficulties that arise between parents and healthcare personnel when language barriers are present. Study I is a quantitative questionnaire study analysing the use of interpreters and awareness of the guidelines for their use. Study II is a qualitative interview study describing the experiences of care personnel regarding communication with parents. Study III is a qualitative interview study of parents who speak Arabic through an interpreter, describing their experiences of having their child under care in the neonatal ward and communicating with care providers. Study IV is a qualitative observational study elucidating the communication difficulties that arise between healthcare personnel and parents when their child is under care in the neonatal ward and language barriers are present. The results show that healthcare personnel lack guidelines for the use of interpreters, and that interpreters are mainly used in the context of medically oriented discussions. Healthcare personnel expressed anxiety and frustration because the information they wished to communicate to parents was misunderstood. The parents expressed gratitude for the warmth and concern of the healthcare personnel despite inadequate communication. Communication was complicated by the constant need to have a third party present to interpret. Our observations revealed that language was not the only significant barrier, and that cultural differences could also lead to misunderstandings. Cultural interpreters or cultural navigators were used to facilitate communication; they were not trained interpreters, but did speak several frequently occurring languages. These individuals were made available to the parents and were able to interpret situations that could arise during nursing care, or to clarify when misunderstandings arose between parents and healthcare personnel. When the father spoke Swedish but the mother did not, the father often wished to interpret for his partner; however, such offers were rarely accepted by healthcare personnel, who instead preferred to call in an interpreter. The results of the study suggest that parents who encounter language barriers should be offered the services of an interpreter for discussions related to medical issues or to the care and treatment of the child. Information must be available in the parents’ native language, and parents must also be given the opportunity to participate in the care of their child, which requires complete understanding of all communications. Parents should be provided with the opportunity to speak their minds, should they so desire. Healthcare personnel must also be aware of how vulnerable parents with language barriers may become when information cannot be directly conveyed.
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