Communicating with deaf and hard of hearing individuals in urgent care

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) individuals continue to experience inequitable access to healthcare despite federal mandates ensuring communication accessibility. Communication barriers between healthcare providers and DHH patients contribute to misunderstandings, undermining quality of care and increasing risk of adverse health outcomes. In the urgent care setting, where time-sensitive decision-making is critical, limited access to communication aids and services such as qualified sign language interpreters can further exacerbate disparities. Emerging technologies such as video remote interpreting (VRI) can bridge communication gaps. This project evaluated communication disparities between DHH individuals and healthcare providers in the urgent care setting and examined the impact of an intervention designed to improve provider awareness, communication practices, and adoption of VRI. It included a standard operations protocol, provider self-assessment, educational video, and pre/post-surveys. Findings indicated increased provider engagement in discussing language barriers and greater willingness to address communication inequities affecting DHH patients. These results suggest that combing provider education with communication protocols and VRI technology may improve equitable care delivery in urgent care settings.