The actual situation of medical interpreters and issues for quality improvement

A Case Study of a dispatched medical interpretation report in Gunma prefecture

Abstract

Background : The number of foreign residents in Japan has been increasing yearly, and it is expected to increase in the future. Medical institutions are under pressure to internationalize, and the placement of medical interpreters is desired. However, at present there are not enough medical interpreters in Japan, and there are various issues concerning their education.
Objective : Identify the actual conditions of medical interpretation at hospitals and identify training issues for providing high quality medical interpretation.
Methods : From 2010 to 2011, we analyzed the implementation report on medical interpreting conducted in cooperation with an NPO and Gunma University Hospital.
Results : From 2010 to 2011, the number of patients and requests for interpretation increased seven times. Interpreted content is divided into five major categories: " related to treatment " , " related to hospital procedures " , " related to social welfare system " , " related to hospitalized life " , and " related to patient's daily life " " The treatment related " issues were the most common at 82.1%.
Conclusion : The increase in the number of medical interpreters used was due to a change in the awareness of medical workers. While there was no resistance to the use of medical interpretation, there were many problems on how medical interpreting was used. Hospitals have the highest need for interpretation in the process leading to diagnosis. We need to be educated as a medical interpreter who can fully support this process.