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Deaf patients have right to interpreter - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Imagine going to the hospital and not being able to understand what the medical staff is telling you.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing patients often face such a challenge.
In such cases, hospitals must provide a certified interpreter to facilitate communication between the patient and staff.
Kim Armahizer, clinical resource manager for ACMH Hospital, said the hospital contacts the Center for Hearing and Deaf Services (HDS) in Westmoreland County, where interpreters are on call 24 hours a day, every day.
Armahizer said as far as she knows, there are no certified interpreters in Armstrong County, which is why the hospital uses an outside agency.
This takes time, however, even though HDS interpreter Dan Conley said in an emergency situation he would get to ACMH as soon as possible.
Yet the biggest obstacle facing deaf and hard-of-hearing patients in rural areas is not with places such as ACMH, but with some of the smaller medical offices, Conley said.
Under the Americans with Disability Act of 1990, deaf patients have the right by law to a certified interpreter. There is a fee for interpreter services that some doctors are reluctant to pay, said Conley, adding that in such instances, a family member, even a child, might be asked to interpret for the patient.
"Imagine a hearing child of a deaf parent being asked to deliver the news that they have cancer?" Conley said. "Situations like this happen all the time."
HDS President and CEO Amy Hart attributes the failure of compliance by some doctors to a lack of understanding and said that deaf patients most likely know their rights under the law.
Yet she said they often don't want to demand interpreter services because they think the doctor or medical practitioner might refuse to see them.
Many challenges continue beyond the doctor's office. When a community has a health fair, said Hart, without an interpreter, a deaf or hard-of-hearing person is often unable to access the services.
And being hard of hearing can be costly.
"Very few health plans have hearing-aid coverage," Hart said. It is a factor that may be contributing to the isolation that some members of the deaf community say they experience.
There is not a lot of knowledge about deaf culture, she said.
"In some ways, deafness is an invisible disability," Hart said. "You don't know someone is deaf until you start to talk with them."
Some facts
• Hearing loss affects more people than cancer, heart disease and kidney disease - combined.
• Hearing problems in Americans increased by almost 54 percent between the early 1970s and the early 1990s.
• Between 1990 and 2050, the number of people with a hearing loss will increase at a rate faster than the population growth.
• Hearing loss is the most prevalent disability in the world.
• Thirty out of every 1,000 school-age children have a hearing loss.
• Children with hearing loss tend to learn speech and language later than children with normal hearing.
• People with hearing loss wait an average of seven years before seeking help.
Center for Hearing and Deaf Services Web site: Welcome to the Center for Hearing & Deaf Services
Imagine going to the hospital and not being able to understand what the medical staff is telling you.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing patients often face such a challenge.
In such cases, hospitals must provide a certified interpreter to facilitate communication between the patient and staff.
Kim Armahizer, clinical resource manager for ACMH Hospital, said the hospital contacts the Center for Hearing and Deaf Services (HDS) in Westmoreland County, where interpreters are on call 24 hours a day, every day.
Armahizer said as far as she knows, there are no certified interpreters in Armstrong County, which is why the hospital uses an outside agency.
This takes time, however, even though HDS interpreter Dan Conley said in an emergency situation he would get to ACMH as soon as possible.
Yet the biggest obstacle facing deaf and hard-of-hearing patients in rural areas is not with places such as ACMH, but with some of the smaller medical offices, Conley said.
Under the Americans with Disability Act of 1990, deaf patients have the right by law to a certified interpreter. There is a fee for interpreter services that some doctors are reluctant to pay, said Conley, adding that in such instances, a family member, even a child, might be asked to interpret for the patient.
"Imagine a hearing child of a deaf parent being asked to deliver the news that they have cancer?" Conley said. "Situations like this happen all the time."
HDS President and CEO Amy Hart attributes the failure of compliance by some doctors to a lack of understanding and said that deaf patients most likely know their rights under the law.
Yet she said they often don't want to demand interpreter services because they think the doctor or medical practitioner might refuse to see them.
Many challenges continue beyond the doctor's office. When a community has a health fair, said Hart, without an interpreter, a deaf or hard-of-hearing person is often unable to access the services.
And being hard of hearing can be costly.
"Very few health plans have hearing-aid coverage," Hart said. It is a factor that may be contributing to the isolation that some members of the deaf community say they experience.
There is not a lot of knowledge about deaf culture, she said.
"In some ways, deafness is an invisible disability," Hart said. "You don't know someone is deaf until you start to talk with them."
Some facts
• Hearing loss affects more people than cancer, heart disease and kidney disease - combined.
• Hearing problems in Americans increased by almost 54 percent between the early 1970s and the early 1990s.
• Between 1990 and 2050, the number of people with a hearing loss will increase at a rate faster than the population growth.
• Hearing loss is the most prevalent disability in the world.
• Thirty out of every 1,000 school-age children have a hearing loss.
• Children with hearing loss tend to learn speech and language later than children with normal hearing.
• People with hearing loss wait an average of seven years before seeking help.
Center for Hearing and Deaf Services Web site: Welcome to the Center for Hearing & Deaf Services