Cultural interpreter in Healthcare

Abstract

The purpose of the thesis was to describe roles of cultural interpreter in healthcare provision in Finland with the aim of providing an evidence-based knowledge on the role of cultural in-interpreters in healthcare professional for Peijas hospital in Vantaa, Finland. The research question was what are the roles of cultural interpreter in healthcare? Literature review method was found to be most appropriate and relevant to the study as it allowed for integrating findings and perspectives from many empirical findings to address the research question. The thesis collect data from seven articles as presented by various scholars for lit-erature review after which inductive content analysis was used for data analysis. The findings from this study revealed four main roles of the cultural interpreter in health care provision. These are intermediary, improving interventions, sharing vital information, and ensuring availability of correct information. The authors recommend that, Peijas hospital in Vantaa, and other hospitals in Finland should acquire professional and specialized cultural interpreter possessing high competence and skill in different language, communities and medical terminologies. Further research could be done on the effect of cultural interpreter on access to healthcare services.