Developing interprofessional collaboration between clinicians, interpreters, and translators in healthcare settings: outcomes from face-to-face training

• Published in: Journal of interprofessional care Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 521 - 531
• Main Authors: Zhang, Claire Xiaochi, Crawford, Emma, Marshall, Jeanne, Bernard, Anne, Walker-Smith, Katie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 04.07.2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: clinician; Collaboration; Competence; Consumers; Development strategies; health; Health care; Interagency collaboration; Interdisciplinary aspects; Interdisciplinary education; interpreter; Interpreters; interprofessional training; Non-English speakers; Professional attitudes; Professional development; Professional training; Professions; Speech; Speech pathology; translator; Workforce; Speech pathology; clinician; health; interprofessional training; interpreter; translator
• ISSN: 1356-1820; 1469-9567
• DOI: 10.1080/13561820.2020.1786360

Interprofessional collaboration between clinicians, interpreters, and translators is crucial to providing care for consumers with limited English proficiency. Interprofessional training for these professions has been overlooked outside of the medical field. This study investigated whether face-to-face training for speech pathologists, interpreters, and translators improved their knowledge, confidence, practice, and attitudes to engage in interprofessional collaboration. It also examined whether single-profession training for speech pathologists can produce similar training outcomes when delivered to multiple healthcare professions. Thirty interpreters and translators (30 training), 49 speech pathologists (27 training, 22 control), and a mixed group of 24 clinicians from eight professions (16 training, 8 control) completed surveys before, after, and two months after their respective training event. Training outcomes were similar across cohorts. Knowledge and confidence improved and were maintained after two months. Attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration were positive despite perceptions of challenge, and this was largely unchanged after training. Intent to implement optimal practices after training was greater than self-reported practices two months later. While years of professional experience did not affect training outcomes for clinicians, knowledge improvement for interpreters was associated with having less professional experience. Findings highlight the need to reevaluate service planning, policy, and workforce development strategies alongside foundation level training to deliver effective interprofessional education for clinicians, interpreters, and translators in healthcare settings.