Interpreting in the medical, mental and allied healthcare settings for deaf people using sign language and access to health care is complicated by the language barrier. It begins when making an initial appointment through the health consultation, be that with a nurse, a general practitioner or medical specialist. From the creation of the administrative file to the request of reimbursement (depending on the health...

Interpreting in the medical, mental and allied healthcare settings for deaf people using sign language and access to health care is complicated by the language barrier. It begins when making an initial appointment through the health consultation, be that with a nurse, a general practitioner or medical specialist. From the creation of the administrative file to the request of reimbursement (depending on the health care system), from reading the prescription to organising a stay in a rehabilitation centre; the presence of a sign language interpreter is often essential. Through the theme 'Interpreting in Health Care Settings', we proposed to consider the place of sign language interpreters amongst the 'white coats' (and ask whether we should also wear one). We also investigated how other fields of research (translation studies, linguistics, sociology, ethnology) explore healthcare interpreting. Other areas of interest included: training for deaf professionals in medical-social settings, sign language interpreter presence during epidemic alerts (e.g. AIDS, swine flu, avian flu, etc.) and during information campaigns led by national authorities.