Accra-Ghana, Aug. 14, GNA – Mr Juventus Duorinaah, Executive Director, Ghana National Association of the Deaf (GNAD), has called for special care for deaf persons in health facilities as they struggle to be understood during ill health.
He said the inability of most healthcare professionals to understand and communicate with deaf persons effectively was a major challenge, which hindered their access to quality healthcare in the country.
Mr Duorinaah, who made the call in an interview with Ghana News Agency in Accra, said deaf and hard-of-hearing persons received delayed attention, and in some cases, were neglected when they sought medical attention at health centres.
“Sometimes when you visit the clinics and they find out that you are deaf, you are asked to wait. They will attend to all other patients before they attend to you because of the communication barrier.” Mr Duorinaah told the GNA, with the help of a sign language interpreter.
He said there were times that health practitioners would prescribe medicine for deaf patients without examining or even asking for laboratory diagnosis, adding that, at times deaf patients were denied the opportunity to ask questions about their health condition.
Mr Duorinaah indicated that sometimes, some deaf persons visited health facilities with a relative or sign language interpreter to assist them communicate with the health workers.
However, without an interpreter, the deaf person was left to communicate with the health practitioners using gestures that did not give real meaning to the deaf patient.
“When you want to explain to the doctor or nurse what is affecting you, you are unable to do so. Sometimes you touch your stomach, or your ribs, or you make a sign that you are vomiting—you use gestures which do not convey your condition.” Mr Duorinaah said.
He said the Association was addressing the communication challenges of the deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, adding that it had a programme with psychiatric hospitals to train nurses to handle deaf mental health patients.
He indicated that they had also trained nurses in sign language at some selected hospitals, which had led to the formation of the disability desk at those facilities.
Meanwhile, the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Ridge, has two staff serving as sign language interpreters.
Mr Alhassan Manan, Head of Medical Records and Statistics, Ridge, said those staff assisted deaf patients in taking their records, seeing the nurses and doctors, and going to the lab, X-ray, and pharmacy.
He called on the Government to train more nurses and other health workers in sign language communication and encouraged nurses and other staff to avail themselves of such training to make hospitals deaf-friendly.
“I want to urge all that we train the nurses and even auxiliary staff in sign language so no one is left out of the communication chain,” he said.
