The aim of the study is first to gain general information on the working conditions of community interpreters in Italy. Italy is a country in which the immigrant population is increasing rapidly. The second aim of this survey is to examine the degree of the interpreter's interactive participation and issues of "neutrality." The results of the survey shed light on how far the interpreter is expected to participate in the interpreting exchange and exactly which form this interaction takes, how the service provider and the interpreter envision the role/task of the interpreter, what ‘instructions’ the service provider gives to the interpreter, how the interpreter is able to deal with these, often conflicting, requirements. The interviews made so far in the main hospitals in the larger cities in Emilia Romagna showed that there is no uniform approach in the region.