Health, Communication and Multicultural Communities: Topics on Intercultural Communication for Healthcare Professionals

Communicating in multicultural settings is a field of central interest to those involved in ensuring access to healthcare. Ever-increasing migration requires access to essential legal, medical and social services. This book provides an overview of current issues in this field through a multi-faceted approach, situating the work of potential healthcare professionals and intercultural intermediaries in the broader context of public service providers and practitioners. The book is not oriented towards one population in particular; rather it is directed towards multiple groups, mainly to students of the health sciences and medical professionals interested in communicating with migrants and visitors, and those who have to work in multicultural settings. It is not a theoretical book, nor is it rule-based by any means. It is a handbook oriented towards reflection and practice resulting from years of experience training mediators, interpreters and translators working in minority languages within multicultural settings. It can be used for self-study and independent learning, but will also be extremely useful to teachers and trainers of future doctors and medical staff who seek materials or readings for their classes. Furthermore, it represents an excellent resource for mediators, interpreters and translators who want to learn more about communication in healthcare setting.


Carmen Valero-Garcés, PhD, is a Professor of Translation and Interpreting at the University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain. She is also the Director of the MA in Intercultural Communication and Public Service Interpreting and Translation program and of the Research Group “FITISPos”, a group dedicated to the study of the quality of communication in multilingual societies. Her current research focuses on the role of interpreters as language mediators across the various settings where they work, and the assessment of their language and interpreting skills. Her recent publications as author and editor include Communicating Across Cultures: A Coursebook on Interpreting and Translating in Public Services and Institutions (2014); Communicating in the Healthcare Setting (2013); (Re)visiting Ethics and Ideology in Situations of Conflict (2014); and Crossing Borders in Community Interpreting: Definitions and Dilemmas (2008). She is also the editor of the online multilingual interdisciplinary double-blind peer review FITISPos International Journal and the co-editor of the 2014 special issue of PANACE@ dedicated to “Intercultural Communication in the Healthcare Setting.”

"This book addresses professionals in healthcare and medical settings and people who have experience as linguistic mediators but who have not received any formal training. In order to achieve this goal, the author adopts a pedagogical and an academic approach depending on the topic that is object of discussion... Nevertheless, the pedagogical value of this contribution should not be ignored, as it can also be a precious tool for trainers of future doctors and future healthcare interpreters."

Dr Paola Gentile University of Trieste Babel, 61: 3 (2015)

"Healthcare interviews are never straightforward, even when the interlocutors originate from the same cultural and linguistic background. […] The potential for misunderstanding is compounded when health professionals and patients differ in terms of their social, cultural, linguistic and religious background, using a language that may be a second language to both of them. Carmen ValeroGarces explores many of the issues in intercultural health communication based on the situation in Spain, illustrating many of the points she makes with excerpts from interviews where health professionals and patients share their experiences."

Ineke Crezee Auckland University of Technology

"This study on communication in the healthcare setting addressed mainly to medical staff and future practitioners of medicine in multilingual and multicultural settings is a most welcome and relevant contribution. It is based on the highly esteemed theoretical research as well as on the wide practical experience gained in training at the University of Alcalá and by the FITISPos group in Spain, coordinated by the author of book, Carmen Valero-Garcés. Her contribution to the professionalization of community interpreters and translators is well known in national and international fora. The well-structured chapters cover in concise and accessible manner topics of key interest, with a balanced mix of theory and practice activities. As a result this book will be of interest and use not only to medical staff but also to anyone involved in interlinguistic communication, mediation and translation and interpreting in the healthcare setting."

Francisco Raga Gimeno Universitat Jaume I

"With the publication of Health, Communication and Multicultural Communities. Topics on Intercultural Communication for Healthcare Professionals, the author not only attempts to ground their theory in common communication, but there is also an increased tendency to identify the former with the cultural problems. This stratagem gives the impression of a robust, and hence stable, foundation for their theoretical construct, keeping any theory in medical ethics open to, and thereby aware of, the challenges arising from clinical practice, as well as healthcare systems."

Alejandro Reyes Martin President of Bioethical Committee, Principe de Asturias Hospital of Alcala de Henares, Madrid

Buy This Book

ISBN: 1-4438-6027-1

ISBN13: 978-1-4438-6027-7

Release Date: 16th July 2014

Pages: 235

Price: £47.99

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