Hearing Doctor, Deaf Patient: Problematic Health Care Interactions

Abstract

Physician–patient communication is central to the field of health communication, with recent work in this area highlighting problems some patients experience during physician–patient interactions. This chapter presents a case about problematic interactions Deaf patients report having with physicians. The case was developed based on a combination of (a) existing literature on Deaf patient health care experiences, (b) findings from an ongoing study on problematic physician–patient interactions reported by Deaf individuals, and (c) the clinical experiences of a physician who regularly works with Deaf patients. This case study illustrates the complexity of these exchanges through multiple viewpoints. As the reader, your job will be to identify the multiple perspectives involved, the reasons why certain events may occur as they do, and the subsequent emotional and behavioral outcomes for those involved.