Communication Service for the Deaf Awarded $250,000 to Improve Virtual Healthcare for Deaf Community

Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc. (CSD) has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to improve virtual healthcare accessibility for Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users. The two-year project, set to run from November 2024 to October 2026, will focus on building capacity for Deaf ASL users in virtual healthcare patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectiveness research (CER).

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of telemedicine, but little is known about best practices for the Deaf community. Deaf individuals who use ASL often face communication and health literacy challenges, making virtual healthcare services potentially inaccessible and inequitable. This project aims to address these issues and improve health outcomes for the estimated 30 million Deaf Americans.

CSD's health and patient advocacy division, DeafHealth, will lead the initiative by forming a national Deaf Patient Coalition. This diverse group of stakeholders will identify and document Deaf patient experiences with virtual healthcare platforms, helping to shape future research focused on improving healthcare access for the Deaf community.

Allysa Dittmar, MHS, Vice President of DeafHealth, will serve as the project lead. The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) will support the project under the leadership of Dr. Tiffany Panko, executive director of the Deaf Health Care & Biomedical Science Hub and director of the Deaf Health Laboratory at RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

The project's significance lies in its potential to address the long-standing issue of underrepresentation of Deaf individuals in medical research. By incorporating diverse lived Deaf patient experiences, this initiative aims to empower a historically marginalized community with the resources and knowledge necessary to drive community-centered change for improved health outcomes.

As healthcare increasingly shifts to virtual platforms, the inclusion of Deaf patients, researchers, and stakeholders in shaping future research is crucial. This project aligns with PCORI's mission to empower patients and others with evidence-based information for better-informed health and healthcare decisions.

The long-term goal of this initiative is to propose future PCOR/CER studies that align with the Deaf community's identified priorities regarding virtual healthcare platforms. This approach has the potential to significantly improve healthcare access and outcomes for Deaf ASL users across the United States.

PCORI, an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress, funds patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research. The selection of CSD's project for funding followed a rigorous and highly competitive review process, assessing its ability to meet PCORI's engagement goals and objectives.

This project represents a significant step forward in addressing healthcare disparities faced by the Deaf community. By focusing on virtual healthcare platforms, which have become increasingly important in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the research has the potential to improve healthcare access and quality for millions of Deaf Americans.