Challenges and remedies for interpreter-mediated dementia assessments

In this chapter, challenges in interpreter-mediated formal clinical assessments are discussed, with a focus on dementia. The points made, however, are applicable on any situation that involves quite specific clinical tasks that may be affected by factors such as the patient’s educational background and literacy, the interpreter’s level of proficiency, and the clinician’s experience of working with an interpreter, irrespective of diagnosis. An encounter from a dementia assessment in a Swedish memory clinic is used as a showcase and subsequently discussed in relation to prior findings and suggestions from research that address inequity in care for ethnic minority (and sometimes illiterate) patients who need the assistance of an interpreter in their clinical encounters. Findings are discussed in the light of interpreter and clinician training, as well as in terms of patient safety.