Background:

With nearly 400 000 migrant workers in Singapore, many from Bangladesh, India and Myanmar, language and cultural barriers posed a great many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was especially so as majority of the COVID-19 clusters in Singapore emerged from their communal dormitories. With concerns arising as to how this minority group could be best cared for in the intensive care units, the need for medical interpreters became clear.

Main:

In response, the Communication and Supportive Care (CSC) workgroup at the Singapore General Hospital developed the ‘Medical Interpreters Training for ICU Conversations’ program. Led by a medical social worker-cum-ethicist and 2 palliative care physicians, twenty volunteers underwent training. The program comprised of 4 parts. Firstly, volunteers were provided with an overview of challenges within the COVID-19 isolation ICU environment. Discussed in detail were common issues between patients and families, forms of distress faced by healthcare workers, family communication modality protocols, and the sociocultural demographics of Singapore’s migrant worker population. Secondly, key practice principles and ‘Do’s/Don’ts’ in line with the ethical principles of medical interpretation identified by the California Healthcare Interpreters Association were shared. Thirdly, practical steps to consider before, during and at the end of each interpretation session were foregrounded. Lastly, a focus group discussion on the complexities of ICU cases and their attending issues was conducted. Targeted support was further provided in response to participant feedback and specific issues raised.

Conclusion:

As a testament to its efficacy, the program has since been extended to the general wards and the Ministry of Health in Singapore has further commissioned similar programs in various hospitals. In-depth training on the fundamentals of medical terminology, language and cultural competency should be provided to all pertinent healthcare workers and hospitals should consider hiring medical interpreters in permanent positions.

中文翻译：

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满足新加坡重症监护病房移民工人的需求

背景：

新加坡有近 40 万名移民工人，其中许多来自孟加拉国、印度和缅甸，在 COVID-19 大流行期间，语言和文化障碍构成了许多挑战。当新加坡的大多数 COVID-19 集群从他们的公共宿舍出现时，情况尤其如此。随着人们对如何在重症监护病房中得到最好的照顾这一少数群体感到担忧，对医疗口译员的需求变得清晰起来。

主要的：

作为回应，新加坡中央医院的沟通和支持护理 (CSC) 工作组制定了“ICU 对话医学口译员培训”计划。在一名医疗社会工作者兼伦理学家和两名姑息治疗医师的带领下，二十名志愿者接受了培训。该计划由 4 个部分组成。首先，向志愿者提供了 COVID-19 隔离 ICU 环境中挑战的概述。详细讨论了患者和家庭之间的常见问题、医护人员面临的痛苦形式、家庭沟通方式协议以及新加坡移民工人人口的社会文化人口统计数据。第二，分享了符合加州医疗口译员协会确定的医学口译伦理原则的关键实践原则和“做/不做”。第三，强调了在每次口译会议之前、期间和结束时需要考虑的实际步骤。最后，就ICU病例的复杂性及其主治问题进行了焦点小组讨论。针对参与者的反馈和提出的具体问题，进一步提供了有针对性的支持。

结论：

作为其有效性的证明，该计划已扩展到普通病房，新加坡卫生部已进一步委托在多家医院开展类似计划。应向所有相关医护人员提供有关医学术语、语言和文化能力基础知识的深入培训，医院应考虑聘用医学口译员担任长期职位。