Understanding Communication Barriers

It is important for providers in hospital and medical settings to understand the implications of communication barriers, and how they often impede receiving effective healthcare. Many inadvertently believe written communication is a satisfactory way to communicate with a deaf or hard-of-hearing person. These professionals do not realize that American Sign Language and English have distinct grammar and syntax, and consequently using written communication is only an effective accommodation when the deaf person is proficient in English and is literate.

Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and use American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate, whether patients, or companions of patients, should never be forced to negotiate and provide rationale for requiring an interpreter in order to receive healthcare, give informed consent, or obtain information regarding a family member, relative, or close friend. They are already under the duress of their own illness or the concern of a loved one.

Equal access to communication is a Congressional mandate well established in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enacted in 1990.  The accommodation most often requested by individuals who are deaf is an ‘on-site (face-to-face) qualified interpreter’, and economic considerations of interpreter costs should never take precedence over the dignity considerations of deaf patients or companions in healthcare facilities.