10. Health and Wellness
Principle: Healthcare interpreters maintain and restore their overall physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being.
Objective: To support the interpreter's well-being and their ability to continue providing quality healthcare interpreter services.
These stressful experiences often trigger strong feelings without time or opportunities to process them. Current research indicates that repeated exposure to difficult situations leads to compassion fatigue, emotional distress, and burnout. Self-care is an essential practice which allows interpreters to continue providing quality interpreting services.
Standards of Practice
10.1 Recognize the importance of self-care and take proactive steps to maintain our physical, psychological and emotional well-being.
Prompts:
- Do I regularly participate in activities that help me reduce the effects of compassion fatigue, emotional distress, and burnout, which are intrinsic to my work setting?
- What steps can I take to protect my health at work?
- Am I taking care of my physical health?
Examples:
- Interpreters engage in debriefing sessions, reflective practice, case conferences, reframing, peer support meetings, counseling and any other activities that restore their health and wellness.
- Interpreters recognize early signs of fatigue or emotional distress, and implement strategies to restore balance and prevent harm.
- Interpreters reflect on their work and process emotional responses after difficult encounters to build resilience.
- Interpreters maintain a healthy diet, and get adequate sleep.
- Interpreters use personal protective equipment (PPE) when on site.
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10.2 Collaborate with employers and colleagues to develop programs and activities that support our health and well-being, and help mitigate various types of trauma.
Prompts:
- Do I proactively suggest activities that support my wellbeing?
- How can I learn about countertransference and recognize when it is affecting me?
- Am I taking steps to restore my emotional balance before my performance is affected?
Examples:
- Interpreters ask for periodic case conferences.
- Interpreters ensure language access is uninterrupted by seeking appropriate coverage, or for a support interpreter, when they are unable to continue interpreting.
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10.3 Recognize and develop effective coping strategies for our triggers, which may include exposure to graphic medical procedures, patient histories, or ethically challenging situations.
Prompt: What situations might trigger a strong emotional response based on my lived experiences? How can I prepare myself beforehand, or manage my emotions during an encounter to stay calm and focused?
Examples:
- Interpreters use healthy coping techniques to stay grounded and maintain focus.
- Interpreters assess whether to pause or continue interpreting effectively when emotionally triggered.
- Interpreters learn how to create emotional distance while remaining kind and caring, so they can be aware of participants' emotions and convey them, without vicariously experiencing them.