A study on assessing communication challenges between clerks and deaf patients at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital was conducted in 2010. The aim was to assess the existence of communication challenges, possible reasons and solutions to these. The literature reviewed identified a gap in the knowledge of communication between staff and deaf patients. A health systems’ study was conducted using a descriptive, cross sectional survey. The study population was made up of 33 clerks who worked at the registration and records area and deaf patients who stayed at Efata and received health services from the hospital. All clerks were interviewed and a random sample of 106 deaf patients was estimated using Epidat statistical software. Self administered questionnaires were used for data collection. Results confirmed the existence of communication challenges between the two groups. A majority of clerks were not trained in Sign Language. They used a combination of methods to communicate with deaf patients, and few clerks could use Sign Language. The patients also used a combination of methods due to the frustration of not having a common method of communication with clerks. The findings clearly showed that there are communication challenges between the two groups and Sign Language needed to be introduced to clerks in order to accommodate deaf patients. Further research may be done on all healthcare providers and to all deaf patients in the region served by Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, and this could have a positive impact on the quality of service offered by the hospital to the deaf community.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wsu/vital:18417 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Stemela, Unati |
| Publisher | Walter Sisulu University, Faculty of Health Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MPH |
| Format | x, 62 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Walter Sisulu University |
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