Study of the Mental Well-Being of the English Deaf

England has an estimated Deaf population of 80,000-100,000 who primarily communicate using British Sign Language (BSL). As in most other countries, the English Deaf have been shown to experience barriers in accessing healthcare services with resulting inequalities in health outcomes.

Rogers et al. report their findings during the course of validating a BSL version of the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS). They found that their Deaf participants tended to report a lower mental well-being than the English population as a whole, although this difference was just short of being significant. Participants who reported mental health difficulties (such as depression or anxiety) had significantly lower mental well-being scores. Gender and considering themselves culturally Deaf was not correlated with the participant's mental well-being.

Those who were under age 66 and not employed also reported significantly lower mental well-being, which is an important issue due to the chronic employment gap experienced by the Deaf in England (as well as other countries).



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