Health care delivery and deaf people: practice, problems, and recommendations for change.

Due to complex individual, interpersonal, and systemic factors, deaf and hard of hearing (d/hoh) individuals often receive inadequate, inappropriate, and unethical health care. This article begins with a review of the relevant socioeconomic and legal issues and the health status of d/hoh individuals. I then review health care starting with the patient's knowledge base, personal experiences, and understanding of health care relationships. I discuss the Deaf community's perspectives, providers' views about disability, communication between providers and deaf patients, and barriers encountered in health care delivery. The article concludes by assessing these factors' effects on health care delivery to d/hoh people, reviewing the ethical implications, and making recommendations for change.