Bucks Montgomery Physician Spring 2021 - 8

FEATURE

Supporting Deaf and Harding of
Hearing Patients During COVID-19:

Best Practices and Strategies
by Zahra Memon, M.A.T.

he novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has impacted
the lives of people all over the world. However,
one particular community has been hit especially
hard: the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) community.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor
and Industry Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing,
as of 2014, there were 1.1 million DHH individuals
residing in the state. During COVID-19, members
of the DHH community have been impacted in
unprecedented ways. According to Neil McDevitt,
Executive Director of the Deaf Hearing Communication
Center in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, COVID-19 has " ...
been a genuinely fundamental impact for our [DHH]
community. In so many ways, what was already a
challenging existence for d/Deaf community members,
COVID has exposed the gaps in dramatic ways. "
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, communication barriers
between DHH patients and their hearing physicians
already existed; however, as a result of new mandates
requiring the wearing of face masks in many public
places, including doctors' offices, gaps in communication
have heightened. For example, because masks can muffle
peoples' voices and make lip-reading impossible, they
make it even more difficult for those with a hearing loss
to understand others easily. Executive Director Neil
McDevitt adds, " From inconveniences like cashiers
in the store wearing masks asking us 10 times what
our phone number is for the rewards program to lifethreatening issues where folks don't have access to ASL
[American Sign Language] interpreters in hospitals,
COVID hasn't really created new challenges. Rather,
it's exacerbated the existing ones that we face. "
As a physician, it is important to consider the way
you communicate with your patients, especially DHH
patients. Here are some simple strategies and best
practices that would provide a better experience
for your DHH patients at their appointments.

BUCKS/MONTGOMERY PHYSICIAN

spring 2021

Strategies for Physicians to
Better Support DHH Patients

1. Whenever possible, reduce background noise
A quiet room with no background sounds will
improve communication between DHH patients and
their clinicians. Although a hearing-aid is used to
improve a DHH person's ability to hear, background
noise can make this difficult (Rochester Regional
Health, 2020).
2. Instead of repeating, try rephrasing
A DHH person may ask the physician to repeat
a statement. In this case, it is best to rephrase the
statement as opposed to repeating it. It is possible that
the patient may not have understood it the first time
since DHH individuals may rely on lip-movements to
decipher words (Rochester Regional Health, 2020).

Bucks Montgomery Physician Spring 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bucks Montgomery Physician Spring 2021