Abstract
This research focuses on remote medical interpreting (RMI). Drawing on a mixed-methods design, it develops a panoramic picture of RMI research and practice with a view to developing a future research agenda. Stage-1 of the research provides an in-depth critical review of contemporary RMI literature relying on an innovative use of qualitative analytical tools, gathering secondary evidence of patients’, medical providers’ and interpreters’ perspectives. Stage-2 is a subsequent international survey (questionnaire, follow-up interviews) informed by the Stage-1 findings, obtaining primary evidence of interpreters’ perspectives. The Stage-1 was instrumental in developing a first preliminary taxonomy of RMI, and in identifying and ranking eight themes reflecting the most researched aspects of RMI. Furthermore, several research gaps and shortcomings of contemporary RMI research were identified, e.g., a lack of description of RMI configurations and of telephone interpreting (TI)/ video interpreting (VI) specific benefits or challenges, and the limited coverage of geographic regions and speciality settings. The Stage-2 survey (questionnaire sample N=47, interview subsample n=16) is the largest survey of interpreters working in RMI within the field of public service interpreting studies to date, providing a panorama of current practice: healthcare interpreters frequently work in both TI and VI while experiencing a wide range of interlocutor distributions and technologies; within this variety, interpreters encounter four similar normative configurations of interlocutor distribution in both TI/VI, but using slightly different normative technologies; VI gained overall more positive evaluation than TI in relation to six aspects of RMI practice, including the interpreting in/output processes (suggesting five potential factors important to the interpreter’s practice of RMI), rapport, concentration, stress, and fatigue; apart from the preponderance of shared challenges over benefits, the respective pros and cons of the two modalities suggest that they are suitable for settings of different medical specialities and/or communicative goals; the COVID-19 pandemic aggravated shared prominent challenges in TI/VI (e.g. sound quality issues, provider/patient lack of training in technology or appropriate behaviours). The two-stage combined findings indicate further need to confirm and explore the RMI configurations, the factors affecting the interpreter’s practice of RMI, and the suitability of TI/VI to different medical settings.