EmpathicCare4AllThe development of an educational intervention for medical- and interpreting students on empathic communication in interpreter-mediated medical consultations.A study based on the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework phases 0-2

The increasing linguistic and cultural diversity in the patient population due to recent migration waves has led to the provision of healthcare through interpreters when doctors and patients do not share a common language. This diversity has generated the need for doctors to be able to provide quality care for all patients regardless of their language and culture. Quality care is subject to good communication between the doctor and the patient and one of its core elements is the expression of empathy to patients. To date, doctors do not receive specialised training on how to communicate empathically with patients with whom they need to communicate through interpreters. On the other hand, interpreters are not trained on how to translate empathic communication either. In order to train doctors on how to communicate empathically and interpreters on how to translate the patients’ emotions and the doctors’ empathy to their patients, we develop an educational intervention for medical- and interpreting students. The intervention focuses on empathic communication in interpreter-mediated medical consultations and will pave the way for a specialized curriculum on empathic communication for medical- and interpreting students.

Keywords:languague barrier, interpreter mediated medical consultations, professional interpreter, empathic communication, embodied language, interprofessional education, interprofessional relations, interpreter education, physicians education

Disciplines:Theory and methodology of language studies, Translation and interpretation sciences, Other medical and health sciences not elsewhere classified