Deaf Health Review

It is often taken for granted that children will be able to comprehend family conversations. However, over 90% of Deaf children are born to hearing parents, and there is often poor communication between them. Being able to understand family conversations is important for children's development in general and their health literacy as adults in particular. Hall et al. looked for correlations to Deaf adults being able to recall comprehending indirect family communications (not directed at them) while growing up. Having at least one Deaf parent was a very strong predictor of being able to comprehend these conversations, much more so than using hearing aids or cochlear implants. The authors conclude that parents of Deaf children can have an impact in reducing health disparities in the Deaf population. Hall, W.C., Smith, S.R., Sutter, E.J., DeWindt, L.A. & Dye, T.D.V. (2018). Considering parental hearing status as a social determinant of Deaf population health: Insights from...

The Deaf have been shown to have low health literacy due to factors such as poor English reading skills, a lack of ASL signs for many common medical terms, and exclusion from public health education campaigns. Low health literacy leads to health disparities and difficulty communicating with healthcare providers even with interpreters present. Havercamp et al. describe a pilot program that adapted Harvard University's Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) for a group of Deaf participants. 2 Deaf volunteers with chronic health conditions were recruited to translate the program into ASL and lead a series of 6 weekly sessions. These were designed to be highly interactive and focused on improving knowledge of common chronic health problems, self-efficacy and self-management  skills to maximize participant's functioning and ability to carry out normal daily activities. Some aspects of the program had to be modified to ensure that the participants could maintain their visu...

Environmental sounds are used for a wide range of audible alerts and safety measures, such as home alarms, car horns, emergency vehicle sirens, and tsunami warning systems. Communication is also critically important during natural disasters, such as understanding emergency broadcasts, first responders, and crisis counselors. While some audible warning devices have been modified for the Deaf, such as smoke alarms that flash strobe lights, there are no such accommodations for most audible alerts and emergency communications. Government emergency response workers are often not trained in how to assist the Deaf. There is a scarcity of research on how the health of the Deaf is affected by these issues.  Takayama reports that the mortality rate of the Deaf population affected by the Kobe and Tohoku earthquakes in Japan (which took place in 1995 and 2011, respectively) was significantly higher than that of the total population of these regions. This is attributed to the Deaf not bei...

Cumberland et al. conducted a health education program designed to increase the knowledge of breast cancer and rate of obtaining a mammogram among a group of Deaf women over the age of 40. An intense effort was undertaken to make the educational materials and outcome measures culturally appropriate for the study participants.  The intervention group received training specific for breast cancer, while the control group received more general cancer education. 197 women went through the program and 182 completed the 12-month follow-up outcomes. The program materials were well-received by the participants and intention to obtain a mammogram significantly increased in the intervention group. The percentage of women who had received a mammogram during the previous 12 months increased in both groups at the 12-month follow-up. Article is gated Cumberland, W. G., Berman, B. A., Zazove, P., Sadler, G. R., Jo, A., Booth, H., et al. (2018). A breast cancer education program for D/deaf ...