The Role of the Advocate in Interpreting

Advocacy within interpreting has long been a point of debate. While the core responsibilities of interpreters serving as a language conduit, clarifier, and cultural broker are well-defined, the concept of advocacy often feels less clear. What does it truly mean for an interpreter to advocate? When is it appropriate? And does advocating risk crossing professional boundaries? This article explores these questions to help interpreters approach advocacy with confidence and care.

Understanding the Interpreter’s Core Responsibilities

A useful framework comes from The Community Interpreter®: An International Textbook, which describes the interpreter’s role using three essential principles: accuracy, confidentiality, and impartiality.

These three principles create the professional boundaries within which all interpreting should occur. Advocacy becomes appropriate only when it does not compromise any of them. Remaining impartial, in particular, means avoiding unnecessary engagement outside the interpreting session and refraining from adding personal opinions or extra information to the message.

Because advocacy can blur these lines, interpreters must think thoughtfully before stepping into that role.

A reliable way to decide if advocacy is appropriate is to consider this question:

“Is the patient’s health, well-being, or dignity at immediate and serious risk?”

This helps interpreters respond with both professionalism and compassion.

Balancing Empathy and Professional Distance

It’s natural for interpreters to notice moments where additional questions could create clarity or where the provider might have missed valuable information. Interpreters tend to be empathetic individuals, and the desire to help is strong.

However, interpreting professionally requires maintaining distance, even when you see a potential future problem. Intervention should occur only when the risk is both serious and imminent. Without both elements, advocacy would exceed the interpreter’s professional role.

Paula Tessier’s work, The Advocacy Controversy in Medical Interpreting (2004), reminds us that interpreting itself is a form of advocacy. By accurately conveying cultural and linguistic meaning, interpreters support patient understanding and dignity. Even when it feels like you’re not “doing enough,” staying within your role is often the most ethical approach.

How to Advocate When It Truly Matters

There are times when advocacy is justified. When that moment comes, interpreters can follow a careful and structured process:

1. Recognize what is prompting your concern.
   Reflect on why you feel the need to advocate.
2. Ask whether the patient’s health, safety, or dignity is at serious risk.
   If not, advocacy is not appropriate.
3. If the risk is serious, determine whether it is imminent.
   If the danger is not immediate, use appropriate channels—such as your agency, supervisor, or front desk—to report the situation after the session.
4. If the risk is both serious and imminent, take measured and thoughtful action.
   Act only with full awareness of the consequences and after attempting less intrusive steps.

A Scenario Where Advocacy Is Justified

Imagine a nurse preparing to administer medication containing iodine, and you know from previous encounters that the patient is allergic. Here’s how the response might unfold:

• Begin with the least intrusive approach by stepping into the role of clarifier:
  “Excuse me, the interpreter would like to clarify whether the patient understands that this medication contains iodine.”
• If this does not prompt the necessary discussion, suggest the provider ask the patient about allergies.
• If all attempts fail and the danger remains immediate, you may need to disclose the allergy to prevent harm.

The goal is always to protect the patient while respecting the profession’s boundaries. The Cross-Cultural Communications Center summarizes it well: advocacy should occur only after thoughtful analysis and only when less intrusive actions are ineffective.

Interpreter Training and Continued Growth

Those looking to strengthen their skills or gain more confidence in navigating these nuanced situations may benefit from interpreter training programs. Metaphrasis’s Interpreter Training Program offers practical, discussion-based instruction across medical, school, business, and legal interpreting. Both new and experienced interpreters can benefit from exploring real-world challenges and building a strong foundation of industry-aligned skills.