Communication with Deaf and Hard-of-hearing People

Abstract

Some physicians may be insufficiently prepared to work with the many patients who have hearing loss. People with hearing loss constitute approximately 9% of the U.S. population, and the prevalence is increasing. Patients with hearing loss and their physicians report communication difficulties; physicians also report feeling less comfortable with these patients. Although communication with patients plays a major role in determining diagnoses and management, little attention is given to teaching medical students and residents the skills necessary to facilitate communication when hearing loss is involved. The need for these skills will increase with the expected rise in the number of such patients. The author presents the rationale for including information about hearing loss in curricula on patient-doctor communication, and suggests curricular content, including background regarding hearing loss and techniques that can enhance the physician's ability to listen to (that is, "hear") and learn about the stories of these patients.

Perception of persons with severe or profound deafness about the communication process during health care

“…The presence of an interpreter is also important to health professionals, mainly for collecting the patient's history (16) .…”

“…Both medical and nursing teams and deaf patients themselves indicate communication difficulties for health care (7,(16)(17) . Thus, there is a need to find means to turn this communication less traumatic on both sides.…”

“…The deaf feel discriminated against because they do not receive care that is adequate for their condition, as guaranteed by current laws (11) , The key to successful communication with deaf persons is to adapt to this situation (16) . Deaf people make suggestions on how to improve their communication with health professionals.…”

Health Care Interactions with Deaf Culture

“…2 Regardless of hearing loss level, persons who are deaf or hard of hearing (D&HH) have altered health care utilization patterns 3,4 and significant communication difficulties with physicians, [3][4][5] often experiencing misunderstandings about their disease or treatment recommendations. 4 -6 They are a "silent" group to many physicians.…”

“…These deaf persons may prefer English as their means of communication with physicians, but their usage of English may not be standard. Persons referred to as Deaf (upper case D) typically belong to the Deaf Community, 7 a minority population with its own culture and social mores, 3,7,8 use American Sign Language (ASL), and typically have a low English reading level. 5 ASL differs from English in crucial ways, including its idioms and grammar.…”