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Challenges of Realising Patient-Centred Outcomes for Deaf Patients

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Abstract

In general populations, it has been recognised that patients play a key role in the quality of their own healthcare. However, the idea of realising patient-centred outcomes for the signing Deaf community, who experience the world in a visual way, raises some challenging issues that are rarely acknowledged. Using published research and translational health projects involving Deaf people both in the UK and internationally, this article discusses the challenges of realising patient-centred outcomes for Deaf people who are sign language users. The discussion includes an examination of: barriers to accessing healthcare for Deaf people; the impact of an insufficient acquisition of knowledge about health-related issues; Deaf people’s limited fund of information; not recognising Deaf people’s values and citizenship rights; and challenges in gathering Deaf people’s reported outcomes. We contend that without including Deaf people in shaping the healthcare experience for them, whether at an interpersonal level of patient engagement or at a structural level, the concept of fulfilling patient-centred outcomes for Deaf people is not achievable.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nursing, Midwifery, and Social Work, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, SORD (Social Research With Deaf People), School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Jean McFarlane Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Katherine D. Rogers, Emma Ferguson-Coleman & Alys Young

Authors
  1. Katherine D. Rogers
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  2. Emma Ferguson-Coleman
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  3. Alys Young
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katherine D. Rogers.

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Funding

Katherine D. Rogers, Emma Ferguson-Coleman and Alys Young received grant funding for some of the studies included in this review. Funding to support the original work was from the National Science Foundation, National Institute for Health Research, National Deaf Children’s Society, British Society for Mental Health and Deafness, Alzheimer’s Society, Economic and Social Research Council, and the Welsh Assembly Government. Views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of these funders. In all cases, the authors confirm that required ethical approvals were granted.

Conflict of interest

Katherine Rogers, Emma Ferguson-Coleman and Alys Young have no conflicts of interest directly relevant to the content of this article.

Author contributions

KDR is the lead author, and was a co-applicant on some of the studies on which the review is based including contributing to their design, data collection, data analysis and original reporting. EFC contributed to the article and contributed to the data collection, data analysis and reporting of some of the work on which parts of this article are based. AY co-wrote the article and was the principal investigator for some of the studies included in this review. All authors approved the final manuscript.

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Rogers, K.D., Ferguson-Coleman, E. & Young, A. Challenges of Realising Patient-Centred Outcomes for Deaf Patients. Patient 11, 9–16 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40271-017-0260-x

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