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Journal of Cancer Education, 24:1015, 2009 Copyright AACE and EACEISSN: 0885-8195 print / 1543-0154 online DOI: 10.1080/08858190802665245
The Impact of Cervical Cancer Education for Deaf Women Using a Video Educational Tool Employing American Sign Language, Open
Captioning, and Graphics
SUN CHOE, BA, MD, ROD SEUNG-HWAN LIM, BS, KAREN CLARK, MS, REGINA WANG, MD, PATRICIA BRANZ, BS,
GEORGIA ROBINS SADLER, BSN, MBA, PHD
AbstractBackground. Deaf women encounter barriers to accessing cancer information. In this study, we evaluated whether deaf womens knowledge could be increased by viewing a graphically enriched, American Sign Language (ASL) cervical cancer education video. Methods. A blind, randomized trial evaluated knowledge gain and retention. Deaf women (n = 130) completed questionnaires before, after, and 2 months after viewing the video. Results. With only a single viewing of the in-depth video, the experimental group gained and retained significantly more cancer knowledge than the control group. Conclusions. Giving deaf women access to the ASL cervical cancer education video (http://cancer.ucsd.edu/deafinfo) significantly increased their knowledge of cervical cancer.
I n a recent study of deaf1 women who use American Sign Language (ASL) as their preferred mode of communication, cancer was ranked highly as a health topic for which they needed information.2 Unfortunately, direct and suitable communications between deaf patients and health care providers are difficult because most health professionals are unable to communicate in ASL.3-8 The Americans with Disabilities Act specifies that health care providers are
responsible for providing reasonable accommodation to ensure that their deaf patients can access health services.9 ASL interpreters and ASL proficient medical personnel can help bridge language barriers and make health visits positive experiences, encouraging patients to discuss intimate health topics.10 Unfortunately, some physicians minimize the use of interpreters due to shrinking health care reimbursements or are unaware of their legal obligations to provide interpretive services.11-15
Within the Deaf community, the average reading level is third to fifth grade because English is learned as a second language, if learned at all.16-20 The absence of aural language reinforcement compounds the difficulty of vocabulary acquisition.21 As with other groups who learn English as a second language, the Deaf community faces literacy barriers to accessing health information and services.18,19,22
Thus, providers cannot rely solely on printed materials, note writing, captioned programming, or online sources...