Podcasts
Interview with Anjana
1. What is a Cultural Support Worker?
3. When is the best time to involve you? (Whoops - in this part of the interview Anjana meant to say 'when they cannot speak "English" rather than "Gujarati")
Anjana Vaja is a Cultural Support Worker at Loros Hospice in Leicester.
Here she explains about her role and how the advocacy side of her work makes her much more than an interpreter.
4. For practitioners and family how do we get the most out a role like yours?
Working with people who do not speak your language - Some guidance
• Always try to use a professional interpreter/advocate for the initial assessment. During this assessment find out about the person's preferences for future communication.
• Ensure that the patient understands that the interpreter/advocate is a professional and that information will be kept confidential
• When using interpreters/advocates, try to meet with them beforehand and explain the patient’s situation. Tell them if the conversation is likely to involve any difficult or sensitive issues such as breaking bad news
• Try to have regular discussions with interpreters/advocates to review the communication process
• Never use children or young people to interpret
• Make sure that the person's need for an interpreter, the language and dialect that they speak is recorded in the patient’s records