Case Study: The compounding challenges of Deaf peoples’ experience in hospital
When you go to hospital, you’re often at your most vulnerable.
You’re injured or unwell. You might be scared or confused. You need help.
The ability to communicate is essential..
“There’s always increasing anxiety knowing I have to go to hospital,” says Simon Beasley, Deaf Culture Integrator and Coordinator at Eagles corner.
“As soon as the doors open, as soon as I enter that space, I feel very naked and exposed to the hearing world. It makes me really upset,” he says.
Unfortunately, Simon’s experience – and his feelings of anxiety, fear and sadness – are not uncommon amongst the Deaf community. In large part, this is due to a lack of adequate communication and awareness of the Deaf community’s needs.
“Communication barriers are a significant cause of the negative experience,” says Simon.
“Whether you’re talking about doctors, dentists, or physicians in hospitals or psychiatry hospitals, everybody has the same story of there not being any awareness. People don’t have a Deaf friendly approach or they don’t create Deaf friendly environments – and these are environments people are entering at their most vulnerable,” he says.
This lack of understanding, awareness and empathy for the Deaf community can lead to catastrophic breakdowns in communication. Often, Deaf people are spendings hours, days or even weeks without access to interpreters – which means they cannot meaningfully communicate in a context where communication is at its most vital.
Ultimately, this lack of access to communication can have dire consequences..
“It’s a matter of feeling invisible. It’s very challenging when you feel like you’re walking into these places and you don’t have a voice, and you feel as though your dignity isn’t being upheld by these people. You feel you don’t have value,” says Simon.
For Simon, these experiences are not a one-off. He describes them as being part and parcel of going into healthcare settings.
“I have a number of these experiences that I could relay, but the theme is very repetitive. I feel the trauma is very routine in that environment. It’s difficult because it’s cyclical,” says Simon.
“It’s communication being the main thing – and communication breakdowns,” he says.
The effects of these negative impacts are far-reaching for the Deaf community – they can mean building reluctance to accessing health services, or even turning to other, unhealthy coping mechanisms.
“I think it’s very easy for people to cancel appointments or change their minds about going,” says Simon.
“It can lead to other impulsive behaviours. So someone who faces addiction, for example, then feels the reliance on that addiction when they feel that increased stress and anxiety. So rather than going to appointments, people use perhaps drinking as a survival mechanism and addiction as a survival mechanism to deal with the stresses,” he says.
The answer lies in increasing awareness, understanding and empathy for the Deaf community among hospital and healthcare workers.
“I’d say first of all, we need to improve communication. Be aware of Deaf culture, and don’t approach me with a hearing view. A hearing view is very different,” says Simon.
“Deaf people need to feel valued and respected, and feel their dignity is being respected and they’re being treated equally or equitably,” he says.
Access to interpreters, improved awareness and understanding for Deaf people and acknowledging their needs are central to improving their experience in hospital. The Deaf Regional Health project by Expression Australia is facilitating this reinvention – by providing the tools and support hospital workers need to accommodate the Deaf community. Find out more about the tools below.
