Deaf Studies: Health Care System Access for Deaf Women Talk

By: Ana Kristina Arce

On March 15 (2011), Executive Director Likhaan Center for Women Dr. Junice L. Demeterio-Melgar gave Health Care System Access for Deaf Women talk at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Case Room during 5^th Women’s Week Celebration. It is her first time to see Deaf people. She hopes she gets to know more Deaf people’s needs.

Likhaan Center for Women was established in 1995. This organization advocacy aims to push for the health and rights of disadvantaged women and their communities. She has been working with a lot of community-based organizations for a long time and also working with a few women and children with disabilities.

She discussed that according to Ubido J., Huntington J. Warburton D. 2002: health staff are unaware how to communicate; few deaf women fully understand what doctors say to them; and few women use health services. These are problems in .accessibility for Deaf women.

She pointed out the importance of breaking the lack of access in knowing common health problems of women such as communicable diseases, children’s diseases, reproductive health problems, gender-based violence, non-communicable diseases, trauma and other emergencies and mental health problems.

After the lecture, Ms. Weng Rivera, President of Filipino Deaf Women’s Health and Crisis Center (FDWHCC), shared her experiences with her deaf client* in front of the audience. Mental Health is a big problem because her deaf client probably has Schizophrenia. She and her friend brought the deaf client to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila. The doctor checked her and gave her a prescription. It is not surprising that the medicines are very expensive. Ms. Rivera and her collegue monitored the patient for a year. Unfortunately, her organization doesn’t have access funds to cover medicine expenses , so she referred said client to the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong City. That’s how difficult it is in accessing fund for Deaf women’s needs.

Aside from the issues, Dr. Demeterio-Melgar recommends that doctors and nurses need to learn sign language in communicating with Deaf patients. The hospitals/clinics also should hire interpreters to help in interpreting between Deaf patients and doctors. Giselle Montero, Director of School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies Center for Partnership and Development reminds the audience that the

Philippines

signed the United Nation Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We need several Deaf leaders who must push the law to implement health services.