Accessibility barriers in healthcare for deaf people: Lit review 2000-2015

All people deserve access to healthcare. But deaf people experience more accessibility barriers in healthcare. Meanwhile, we don’t need to rely on anecdotal evidence to tell us this: 15 years of research agrees. For example, communication between deaf people and healthcare providers is difficult. Also, deaf people have less access to general health knowledge. But it doesn’t have to be this way. For example, visually accessible communication, including sign language and communication technologies, can help. So can cultural awareness among health professionals. Health awareness training for deaf people can also help. Learn what else the authors found in their literature review.

This article published in the January 2016 issue of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. It reviews literature about accessibility barriers in healthcare for deaf and hard of hearing people published between 2000 and 2015. The web page is partly accessible for people using screen reading software, though with some difficulty. For example, some forms have multiple labels. Also, some links have labels to say where they go, but others do not.

Also explore other resources about deaf people and health care. For example, learn how exclusion from HIV/AIDS services in Zambia has impacted Deaf people.