Abstract
Background: The implication of
health literacy is the ability of individuals to find, understand, and use
their required health information from reliable sources. It is an indicator of
the individuals’ participation in their own medical decision-making. Deaf
individuals have limited health literacy and poor health status due to low
literacy. Hence, this review was conducted to understand barriers and
facilitators influencing health literacy among deaf community.
Methods: We searched the ISI Web
of Sciences, Scopus, and Medline from 1987 to 2016. Seventy-three papers were analysed
thematically.
Results: We found three primary
themes, including inadequate health literacy, barriers, and facilitators to
accessing health information and health care services among deaf individuals.
Facilitators were composed of four sub-theme including legal activities
protecting the right of deaf patients to accessing health services, training
health professionals about effective communication with deaf patients,
providing sign language interpreter services, and developing deaf tailored
educational health programs and materials.
Conclusion: Closing the deaf
cultural gap and their limited access to health information are achievable
through the removal of the communication barriers, allowing deaf individuals
with more access to health learning opportunities, and informing the hearing
community about the communicative skills of deaf individuals.