Table 2 Overview of categories with subcategories analysed from interviews by healthcare staff working in multilingual elderly healthcare

Organization of interpreter practice in multilingual elderly healthcare in accordance with the Public Procurement Act

1) Existing guidelines at the workplace concerning the use of interpreters

2) The lack of guidelines in multilingual elderly healthcare on the use of interpreters in the organization of daily healthcare led to limited use of professional interpreters

Organization of interpreter practice in daily work

1) Use of professional interpreters for interpretation in daily work multilingual elderly healthcare occurs in care planning and problematic circumstances, and requires planning long in advance during office hours

2) Use of informal interpreters in multilingual elderly healthcare everyday caring situations and in unpredictable requirements at short notice even outside office hours

The professional interpreter’s role in communication in everyday multilingual elderly healthcare

1) The interpreter’ role as spokesperson and translating written information

2) The interpreter’s role including competence in elderly illnesses

Healthcare and communication practices for non-Swedish speaking elderly

1) Challenges in providing healthcare for elderly require planning far in advance

2) Challenges in communication through an interpreter, such as the communication process taking longer and feelings of insecurity as to whether or not to translate word-for-word

Wishes for future development of interpreter practice in multilingual elderly healthcare

1) Making the interpreter policy/routines easily available and understandable to all staff in multilingual elderly healthcare

2) Simplifying and developing the procedure for the use of interpreters at the workplace

3) Training of healthcare staff in using and communicating through interpreters

4) Developing the training for professional interpreters for interpretation in multilingual elderly healthcare