Award-winning project enhances interpreter integration in palliative care settings

The ‘Improving Interpreter Integration in Palliative Care Settings’ project has been recognised with the 2024 Quality Award from the South Western Sydney Local Health District in the category of People and Culture. This project sought to embed a pre-briefing process for interpreters within palliative and cancer care settings to enhance communication between clinicians and patients requiring interpreter services.

The pre-briefing approach focused on establishing a shared understanding of each appointment's context, objectives, and cultural considerations between interpreters and clinicians before consultations. This initiative optimised the appropriate use of interpreters, ensuring a more cohesive and inclusive experience for patients from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Using an evidence-based quality improvement (QI) framework, the project introduced a multi-stage education program, clinician reminders, and embedded digital processes to support consistent pre-briefing practices. By the project’s end, 100% consistency of pre-briefing was achieved across all interpreted palliative care appointments and maintained over a 10-week period. The team’s success highlights the critical role of interpreters in the care team and the significance of delivering culturally sensitive, quality healthcare.

This initiative was part of the third round of the SPHERE-Stanford Quality Improvement Program, which provided training in quality improvement techniques for palliative care. The program empowers teams from SPHERE’s partner organisations to address local healthcare issues, including improving interpreter support in palliative care settings. The program’s collaborative approach underscores the growing emphasis on quality improvement to enhance patient care outcomes across diverse clinical challenges.