This course explains ethical and legal obligations that behavioral health interpreters should adhere to in the services they deliver. Ethical standards, state and federal regulations pertaining to confidentiality, including the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA, and legal rights of the person are addressed.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2019, 19.2% of adults in the U.S. had received mental health treatment in the previous 12 months (Terlizzi & Zablotsky, 2020). Those numbers indicate that behavioral health care providers are caring for a large number of persons.
A behavioral health interpreter can provide a key role in increasing health equity and decreasing health disparity by working alongside the healthcare provider in translating healthcare-related information in a barrier-free environment (Fennig & Denov, 2021).
The goal of this course is to inform non-licensed direct care professionals in health and human services settings about ethical and legal obligations of the behavioral health interpreter.