Exploring Communication Barriers Experienced by Medical Providers in Management of Patients with Hearing Impairment

This study aimed at exploring communication barriers experienced by medical providers in management of patients with hearing impairment. Specifically, the study aimed at exploring the experiences of medical providers in management of patients with hearing impairment; determining approaches and methods used by medical providers in management of patients with hearing impairment and identifying the roles of medical providers in management of patients with hearing impairment. The qualitative study used purposive sampling to select the study area and study participants. The methods of data collection used were individual interviews, observation, and a focus group discussion which involved forty (40) participants. The study findings revealed that medical providers experience difficulties when they manage patients with hearing impairment due to communication barrier. Despite the obvious barrier, the medical service providers still find strategies to communicate with hearing impaired patients. The attitude and perception of the medical providers towards hearing impaired patients are grounded in the fact that they have become resilient to the problem. The methods and approaches used by medical providers in management of patients with hearing impairment imply that medical service providers still have little awareness of the culture and the way hearing impaired people communicate and this is due to the fact that medical providers have no basic knowledge on communication skills with such patients from their medical school. The study recommends that more efforts be done by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to train more medical interpreters to address the lack of knowledge on sign language for medical providers. It further recommends that there should be an additional plan to train nurses and doctors on the basic knowledge of sign language because the lack of such knowledge has impact on the health outcome of the patients with hearing impairment.