Care partners of deaf and hard-of-hearing people with diabetes face unique challenges
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Key takeaways:
- Care partners of deaf and hard-of-hearing people with diabetes discussed challenges with having to communicate for their loved one.
- A specialized training program directed toward care partners may be beneficial.
Care partners of deaf and hard-of-hearing people with diabetes face several communication-related challenges that could be addressed through a specialized training program, according to two presenters.
“We have to understand that [care partners] can provide harmful or helpful behaviors,” Michelle L. Litchman, PhD, FNP-BC, FADCES, associate professor and nurse practitioner at the University of Utah College of Nursing, said during a presentation at the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists annual meeting. “Deaf and hard-of-hearing [people] experience higher rates of diabetes than hearing individuals, three times higher to be exact, and they face unique diabetes self-management and education support challenges because of interpreter needs and because of access needs in sign language.”
Researchers at the University of Utah discussed feedback they received from meetings with six care partners of deaf and hard-of-hearing people with diabetes. Of the care partners, four were also deaf and hard of hearing and two had no hearing impairment. The purpose of the meetings was to learn about the care partners’ experiences and develop ideas to implement in an intervention called Deaf Diabetes Can Together.
“It’s a 12-week virtual intervention that’s delivered directly in sign language,” Litchman said. “We really wanted these care partners to provide feedback for that intervention so that we could make sure that it was friendly for care partners as well.”
Three themes were identified during the meetings. Care partners said they performed a variety of tasks to support deaf and hard-of-hearing people with diabetes, including attending medical appointments, interpreting and calling insurance companies. Care partners also discussed facing unique challenges with diabetes care, including communication barriers, limited access to diabetes self-management education and support in American Sign Language and financial burden. Other challenges included the inability to use hearing cues if a deaf or hard-of-hearing person with diabetes falls due to hypoglycemia and for adolescents, balancing being a child while also being in charge of diabetes communication for a deaf or hard-of-hearing person with diabetes.
The care partners suggested several topics for diabetes self-management and education support classes, including tips for healthy eating, ways to be supportive without being overburdensome, how to manage one’s own stress as a care partner, ways to teach children about diabetes and education on the risk for diabetes complications and how to manage them.
Researchers invited 15 deaf and hard-of-hearing people with diabetes who attended the Deaf Diabetes Can Together program to nominate a care partner to also attend. Krissa Mirus, MHSA, program manager at the University of Utah College of Nursing, said only one care partner chose to attend and discussed several barriers that may have limited care partner participation.
“There’s a lot of scheduling issues,” Mirus said during a presentation. “A lot of people with children have a lot of sports or things after school. The care partner could also have another disability, and we have not designed a program for that. There were some barriers with the care partner maybe being shy or not wanting to be part of the program, or there are some people with diabetes who did not want their care partner to join because they wanted to be independent. And there are some people [with diabetes] who live alone and do not have care partners.”
Moving forward, Mirus said, the research team may develop a separate program specifically for care partners. The program could address needs related to other disabilities and may include specific training for adolescent care partners.
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Litchman M, et al. Abstract F09A. Presented at: ADCES24; Aug, 9-12, 2024; New Orleans.
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