Interpreting in healthcare: a systematic search and mapping of ethical issues in health literature.

Medical interpreters play a vital role in healthcare settings, ensuring effective communication between providers and their patients when language barriers exist. Interpreters can be ad hoc, such as family members, or individuals who have undergone formal training. We systematically searched and analyzed 112 medical, bioethics, and interpreting literature publications to answer the question: what ethical issues arise when trained medical interpreters are involved in patient care? Interpreting in a medical setting is a complex process that requires not just understanding medical terminology in two languages, but also potentially helping to bridge cultures and serving as a patient advocate. These roles sometimes conflict, which can lead to numerous ethics issues and questions. We grouped these ethical concerns into categories, including accuracy, neutrality, confidentiality, professionalism, interprofessionalism (working with the healthcare team), and time constraints. Our findings expose the complex ethical challenges that medical interpreters face in conducting their work, which give rise to moral and emotional distress. These ethical concerns require additional research and attention not only in educating interpreters but in training other health professionals and administrators and developing health systems policies.