Bridging the gaps between medicine, health care and society

Abstract This paper explores the role of translation and mediation in bridging the gaps between medicine, health care and the social sciences. It considers translation in two complementary ways: (1) interlingual translation, focusing on linguistic and cultural equivalence as traditionally understood in translation studies (TS), and (2) intergeneric or heterofunctional translation, referring to the transfer of information across genres and disciplines, particularly in the context of knowledge translation (KT). Translation is essential in medical and health-care settings, facilitating communication between researchers, clinicians, patients, policy makers, and other stakeholders, especially in multilingual and multicultural societies. The paper draws on concepts from KT and TS, including genre, context and participants, to analyze the role of translation in two emerging fields: translational medicine (TM) and narrative medicine (NM). It argues that translation not only transfers knowledge, but also shapes and constructs it, in line with sociological perspectives on scientific writing as a representational and knowledge-constructing tool. By integrating insights from TS with the medical humanities, this study highlights the importance of translation as a means of knowledge mediation and social connectivity in health care. The discussion is conducted holistically, emphasizing the interconnectedness of translation, mediation and knowledge transfer in shaping medical and health-care practices.