Deafness and Inclusion: Perceived Communicative Barriers in the Area of Rehabilitation in Italy

Abstract Introduction Deafness can create a communication deficit/barrier between the Deaf or Hard of Hearing patient and the Healthcare Workers (HWs), with negative outcomes for diagnostic and therapeutic success. As underlined by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to train HWs in effective communication strategies in order to avoid marginalising or excluding the Deaf Community by denying them access to healthcare services. This study highlights the urgent need and desire of Healthcare staff for training in effective communication strategies, such as sign language, to help the Deaf community gain equal access to Healthcare. Materials and methods A cross-sectional survey was carried out between May and July 2022 using the Google Forms platform. An anonymous questionnaire was given to Rehabilitation HWs (RHWs) at a national level to collect information from the HWs of the various areas of rehabilitation, identifying their knowledge, training, and experience with regard to deafness. Data analysis was then carried out using the Google Forms program, SPSS program Windows7 Excel Spreadsheet. Results 252 RHWs belonging to 8 different profiles answered this survey. 89% were women. 46% were younger than 30. 57% of these 252 had deaf patients, but 54.6% of these had no prior training. 33% of the RHWs had followed courses or seminars on deafness at least once. When asked, 94% were interested in courses or training in communication with deaf people. Conclusions HWs recognize the gap in communication and are willing to learn more in the matter for effective communication with their patients to gain a better therapeutic success. They also consider a program that imparts such knowledge and training to be highly important. Key messages • Therapeutic success is increased if there are effective communication strategies, such as sign language, between the Deaf and Healthcare provider. • This study shows the importance of training all health workers in effective communication strategies with deaf people to allow an all-inclusive healthcare.