ArticlePatient education and counseling2019
Agents of empathy: How medical interpreters bridge sociocultural gaps in genomic sequencing disclosures with Spanish-speaking families.
Article in Patient education and counseling, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Communication Barriers in Patient-Provider Interactions in Health Care: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- "Es Lindo, Pero Estamos Perdidos"-Characterizing Facilitators and Barriers to Clinical Genetic Testing for Latino Populations.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Interpretation inaccuracies in pain communication between Hmong patients and clinicians in the USA: A conversation analysis informed study.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Rethinking agency for genetic testing intention among Latinos: Determining predictors of intention for carrier screening and cancer predisposition testing.Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics · 2025Article
- The impact of language discordance on genetic counselors' ability to establish a working alliance with patients.Journal of genetic counseling · 2025Article
- Medical interpreter-mediated genetic counseling for Spanish preferring adults at risk for a hereditary cancer syndrome.Journal of genetic counseling · 2023Article
- Priorities to Promote Participant Engagement in the Participant Engagement and Cancer Genome Sequencing (PE-CGS) Network.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2023Article
- Barriers to Equity in Pediatric Hearing Health Care: A Review of the Evidence.Perspectives of the ASHA special interest groups · 2022Article
- Exploring United States genetic counselor and healthcare interpreter perspectives: Allocation of roles within the genetic counseling encounter.Journal of genetic counseling · 2022Article
- Understanding genomic health information: how to meet the needs of the culturally and linguistically diverse community-a mixed methods study.Journal of community genetics · 2021Article
- Evaluation of a Genetics Education Program for Health Interpreters: A Pilot Study.Frontiers in genetics · 2021Article
- Examining access to care in clinical genomic research and medicine: Experiences from the CSER Consortium.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo describe how linguistic tools used by interpreters during return of genomic sequencing results may have impacted communication with Spanish-speaking families, and to discuss the implications for the role of medical interpreters.
methodsUsing discourse analysis, we identified and categorized the various ways hospital-based interpreters adapted clinicians' language in 37 audio-recorded sessions in which Spanish-speaking parents participating in a clinical trial received their child's genomic sequencing results from English-speaking clinicians.
resultsWe found that interpreters adapted clinicians' statements using five empathic linguistic tools: contextualization, encouragement, checking comprehension, endearment, and softening. Interpreters used an average of four linguistic tools per session, with contextualization and encouragement being the most frequently used.
conclusionsInterpreters used empathic linguistic tools to alter clinicians' statements when communicating genomic information to Spanish-speaking families. Our findings demonstrate the critical role of interpreters as cultural mediators and facilitators of understanding for Spanish-speaking families. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This study expands upon the definition of clinical empathy in interpreter-mediated sessions. Our findings suggest that revisions of standards of medical interpretation practice may be warranted regarding interpreters' ability to adapt clinicians' language in a culturally sensitive manner during interpretation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.