Genevieve Marshall, the mental health and wellness coordinator at Interfaith Works of Central New York, once sat in on a consultation with a doctor who asked one of her refugee clients if he or she identified as gay, straight or bisexual. The interpreter at the appointment immediately stopped the conversation, informing the doctor that in the client’s culture, asking about sexual orientation is highly offensive. The translation would therefore take more time because the question required an explanation of why it was being asked. Marshall said interpreters, like this one, who take the time to explain cultural differences in conversational contexts make or break these important discussions.
“Otherwise … you’ll end up walking out with a client saying, ‘I don’t want to go back to get services because I felt offended,’” Marshall said.
An estimated 12,000 refugees call the city of Syracuse home, according to the 2016-2018 Onondaga County Community Health Assessment and Improvement Plan. The assessment also found that nearly 18 percent of households in Syracuse speak a language other than English. A city of about 55,000 households, Syracuse therefore has about 10,000 households potentially in need of an interpreter, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Interpreters serve a crucial role for refugees and immigrants who don’t speak English. Not only do they translate for clients, but they also serve as a bridge between cultural differences and help clients gather a deeper understanding of what is happening in different situations, Marshall explained.
In medical settings, the involvement of interpreters can determine whether a client receives the correct treatment or not, according to a study by Glenn Flores of the Medical College of Wisconsin. Flores found that individuals who needed but did not receive interpreters were nearly 40 percent more likely to misunderstand their diagnosis and treatment than those who needed and used interpreters.
“People tend to fall through that gap,” Marshall said, referring to the risk of misunderstanding medical appointments.
In-person interpreters are not always available, however, though Marshall said it is the best practice. Some alternatives to in-person interpreting are over-the-phone interpreting and video remote interpreting, or VRI. VRI functions similarly to FaceTime or Skype, in which a client can video chat with an interpreter through a webcam.
Regional hospital Upstate Medical University occasionally incorporates VRI when serving clients, and it’s just as effective as in-person interpreting, as clients and interpreters can see each other’s facial and body gestures, Susan Freeman, the interpreter service manager of over 240 languages at Upstate, said.
Freeman also serves as an American Sign Language interpreter at Upstate, and she said she has had a foreign-born deaf interpreter help her. In these cases, Freeman interprets what the doctor says and signs it to the other interpreter, who then signs it to the client in a way he or she could understand. These additional interpreters can analyze the situation better than Freeman can, as they can relate to clients who they share a similar background with; it creates a certain level of trust between the client and interpreter, Freeman explained.
The importance of a trusting relationship between the client and interpreter is universal. Syracuse City School District employs four individuals in full-time positions as nationality workers in which they create relationships with, interpret for and help refugee and immigrant students, as well as inform teachers of the cultural backgrounds within their classrooms. The consistency of having the same nationality workers in classrooms is helpful because the students become familiar with their faces, and therefore the children are less apprehensive to open up and talk, Kristina Crehan, an instructional specialist for the English as a New Language program, said.
Crehan also said Syracuse City School District focuses on making sure it’s not only engaging the students, but also getting parents involved in their children’s education by overcoming language barriers and providing them with interpreters, as well.
“We try to make sure that we’ve given everyone an equitable opportunity to engage,” Crehan said.
In addition to four full-time nationality workers, Syracuse City School District also hires community-based interpreters who are vetted as fluent in the language they interpret. Crehan explained that before hired interpreters begin working, they must attend an extensive training on the importance of confidentiality and how to work in a school.
Trainings, such as the one Syracuse City School District provides, are essential, Terre Slater, president and CEO of Empire Interpreting Service, said. Interpreters who have knowledge of specialized areas, like medicine, or who can handle highly emotional settings increase the professionalism of their service, she said.
Marshall, of Interfaith Works, said overall, she thinks interpreters in Syracuse exemplify this complex and crucial role they have, going beyond just translating.
“Providers in Syracuse are great,” Marshall said. “There’s a lot of capacity in this community to effectively serve refugees.”