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A partnership in communication: a qualitative study on the experiences of Punjabi clients as users of interpreters

University of British Columbia

Health care practitioners are constantly challenged when providing services to culturally diverse communities. Communication barriers such as differences in culture and language, lack of education about health care services, cultural insensitivity on the part of the practitioner and system ineffectiveness prevent access to health care services by Punjabis and visible ethnic communities as a whole. In this practicum thesis, I present my personal and professional insights, research and client perspectives on how interpreters can help culturally diverse communities to access health care services. I discuss my qualitative study where participant observations and semi-structured interviews were conducted with Punjabi clients to explore their experiences of using interpreters. The focus is specifically on Punjabi clients. Since South Asians (which includes Punjabis) are the fifth largest single ethnic community in Canada and the third largest in British Columbia, it is important to understand their experiences. The findings suggest that many Punjabi clients are satisfied with their use of an interpreter. They appreciate having an interpreter take the time to explain different cultural beliefs and difficult concepts, translating from one language to another, and catching missed material This study has implications for health care practitioners in working with interpreters to develop a health care service delivery system that is accountable to all culturally diverse communities.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-05-25

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8165

Social Work

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace