EVALUATING PROVIDER AND FAMILY PERCEPTION OF SPANISH INTERPRETATION SERVICES IN A PEDIATRIC OUTPATIENT REHABILITATION SETTING

The purpose of the project was to evaluate the parental and therapists’ perceptions of interpretation services at MUSC Children’s outpatient physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech language pathology clinic. Qualitative interviewing of therapists and parents of children receiving pediatric rehabilitation services was performed. A Spanish Interpreter licensed by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters with seven years of experience conducted the interviews in English for three therapists (physical, occupational, speech), and Spanish for the patients and their families. The objective of the questions was to identify perceived barriers to Spanish healthcare interpretation in a pediatric outpatient setting, highlight expectations during an interpretation encounter, and compare different interpretation modalities (in-person, telephone, and video). Three therapists (OT, PT, SLP) and three LEP Spanish speaking patients and their caregivers were interviewed. Participants were asked questions from a survey to gauge their perspectives on roles of the interpreter and provider, pros and cons of the different modalities, and perceived barriers to accessing services.​ An analysis was then done using theme identification to identify similarities. The pediatric population and the environment of an out-patient clinic itself presents its own specific barriers when providing health care interpretation. It is important to recognize these barriers and keep them in mind when choosing between in-person interpretation, telephone and video interpretation. Many therapists are limited to whatever modality their clinic chooses to offer. Gathering information specific to the needs of the outpatient pediatric rehabilitation population is key to having the tools necessary when advocating for the best interpretation modalities.