Visual and hearing impairments should not prevent effective, direct communication in health settings. The resources provided here can help to build knowledge and skills in communicating with people who have hearing or visual impairments.
RESOURCES:
Title: Health care for individuals with hearing loss or vision loss: a minefield of barriers to accessibility (Withers and Speight, 2017)
Source: North Carolina Medical Journal
Find at: https://ncmedicaljournal.com/article/54910
Description: Quotation from the article- “Individuals with hearing or vision loss face significant barriers in accessing health care, resulting in documented health inequities. These barriers are typically in the form of inaccessible communication or information, as well as impediments to orientation or mobility. Compliance with applicable accessibility laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, requires that providers have a sound understanding of the specific aids and services that assure compliance.”
Title: Effective communication with people who have sensory disabilities-Improving access to health care for people with disabilities
Source: DREDF-Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
Find at: https://dredf.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Module-3-Effective-Communication-10-14.pdf
Description: This DREDF training module presents key elements of effectively communicating with people with sensory disabilities.
Title: Questions and Answers for Health Care Providers
Source: National Association for the Deaf
Description: “Doctors, nurses, dentists, specialists, therapists, and other health care providers must communicate effectively to provide appropriate, effective, quality health care services. Federal disability discrimination laws mandate equal access to and an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from health care services, and effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.”
Title: Morisod K, Malebranche M, Marti J, Spycher J, Grazioli VS, Bodenmann P. Interventions aimed at improving healthcare and health education equity for adult d/Deaf patients: a systematic review. Eur J Public Health. 2022 Aug 1;32(4):548-556. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckac056. PMID: 35640159; PMCID: PMC9341675.
Source: European Journal of Public Health
Find at: https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/32/4/548/6594529
Description: Quotation from the abstract- “d/Deaf people suffer from inequitable access to healthcare and health information. This results in worse health literacy and poorer mental and physical health compared to hearing populations. Various interventions aimed at improving health equity for d/Deaf people have been documented but not systematically analyzed. The purpose of this systematic review is to obtain a global overview of what we know about interventions aimed at improving health equity for d/Deaf people.
Title: Hearing loss: tips to improve communication with people with hearing loss
Source: Cleveland Clinic
Description: A short list of practical tips
Title: Effective Communication for Health Care Providers: a guide to caring for people with disabilities (Riddle, Romelczyk and Sparling, 2011) has very helpful sections on communicating with individuals with hearing loss and vision loss
Source: Center for Disabilities Studies, University of Delaware
Find at: https://www.cds.udel.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/effective-communication.pdf
Description: “Disability can impact communication. Identifying a patient’s disability and its potential impact on effective communication is the first step in reducing the risk of miscommunication. The type of disability – whether intellectual, sensory, mobility or mental health – will help determine the kind of accommodation needed.”