In a Toronto hospital, translation volunteers are put to good use outside of the medical language sphere.

On numerous occasions, this blog has emphasized the importance of using qualified medical language experts for language translation and interpretation in medical settings.

However, as the example of a Toronto hospital shows, non-medical language interpretation can be carried out by motivated volunteers. Such a system can also provide valuable emotional and cultural support to patients.

The Scarborough Hospital in Toronto, for example, benefits from a team of over 800 volunteers. Since the hospital serves a linguistically diverse community, the volunteers focus on non-medical translation as well as cultural and spiritual support.

“Tamil, Mandarin and Cantonese are the most common non-English tongues among the hospital's visitors, but there are dozens of languages…” explains vice-president of patient experience Anne Marie Males in an InsideToronto article.

Medical issues aside, an act as (seemingly) simple as buying flowers for a loved one can be facilitated by translation help. “Some [volunteers] are trained to deal with stressful situations, but there are flower arrangers and clerks, as well as knitters and other volunteers who don't necessarily even set foot in the hospital,” Males explains.

So there is definitely a place for community language volunteers in hospital settings. However, unless they are sufficiently qualified, that place should not be a doctor’s office or the emergency room. Betty Carlson

See Also

• Language Translation, Inc.
  A leading language translation and interpretation service provider for more than 20 years.