The two-year project will support the engagement of deaf patients, researchers and stakeholders to identify emerging patient-centered needs related to virtual health platforms.

AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / August 15, 2024 / Communication Services for the Deaf, Inc. (CSD) has received $250,000 through the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award Program, an initiative of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The funding will support a two-year project titled “Building Capacity for Deaf Users of American Sign Language in PCOR/CER Virtual Health Care,” running from November 1, 2024, to October 31, 2026.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the adoption of telemedicine in healthcare, yet little is known about best practices for the deaf community. Deaf people who use American Sign Language (ASL) face communication and health literacy challenges, making virtual healthcare services potentially inaccessible and inequitable.

DeafHealth, the health and patient advocacy division of the CSD, will recruit a diverse group of stakeholders to form a national coalition of deaf patients. This coalition will identify and capture the diverse experiences of deaf patients with virtual health platforms to shape future patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) focused on virtual health platforms for the deaf community. By collaborating with academic institutions, researchers, and patient communities, this groundbreaking project aims to advance equitable care and decision-making for deaf patients guided by patient-centered outcomes and preferences.

The project is led by project manager Allysa Dittmar, MHS, Vice President of DeafHealth. Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), under the direction of Dr. Tiffany Panko, Executive Director of the Center for Deaf Health and Biomedical Science and Director of the Deaf Health Laboratory at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf will support the project.

“Deaf people make up approximately 13% or 30 million of the American population, yet are often overlooked in research. We are grateful to PCORI for this opportunity to encourage equitable participation and involvement of both deaf patients and researchers,” said Dittmar. “The lack of opportunities for our community has hindered the ability to identify effective interventions to improve the health and well-being of deaf people who use ASL. As healthcare increasingly shifts to virtual platforms for care and treatment, it is critical to engage the deaf population, researchers, and stakeholders to ensure that future PCOR/CER research is patient-centered and equitable.”

By incorporating the experiences of diverse deaf patients, this project gives this historically marginalized community the resources and PCOR/CER knowledge needed to drive community-driven change for better health outcomes and is consistent with PCORI’s mission to empower patients and others. Long-term, the project provides an opportunity to propose future PCOR/CER studies that align with identified community priorities regarding virtual health platforms for the deaf community.

PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by the U.S. Congress to fund patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research that provides patients, their caregivers, and physicians with the evidence-based information they need to make better-informed decisions about health and health care.

For more information about the PCORI Engagement Award and the CSD-funded project, visit Here. Projects approved for funding through PCORI’s Engagement Award Program were selected through a rigorous and highly competitive review process that assessed their ability to meet PCORI’s engagement goals and objectives and program criteria.

About Communication Service for the Deaf, Inc. Communication service for the deaf (CSD) is the world’s largest deaf-led social impact organization. For more than four decades, CSD has been a leader in developing and delivering accessible and innovative solutions for the deaf community. Through CSD’s Patient and Health Advocacy Division DeafHealth focuses on improving health outcomes for deaf and hard of hearing patients through statewide initiatives by providing culturally and linguistically accessible health information, resources, and services. For more information, visit Pride and follow CSD on on facebook., Þjórsárdalur, InstagramAnd LinkedIn.

About the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology

Founded in 1965 by the US Congress, National Technical Institute for the Deaf is the world’s first and largest technical college for deaf and hard of hearing students. NTID offers associate degree programs for deaf and hard of hearing students and provides support and access services for deaf and hard of hearing students studying at ‘s other eight colleges. Rochester Institute of TechnologyNTID also offers certificate programs in education, deafness, healthcare, trilingualism, and sign language translation interpreting, as well as bachelor’s degree programs in sign language interpreting and community development and leadership, and master’s degree programs in secondary education and healthcare interpreting. Deaf and hard of hearing students come from across the United States and around the world to take advantage of the opportunities available to them at RIT/NTID. Visit RIT/NTID and follow on facebook., Þjórsárdalur, InstagramAnd LinkedIn.

Contact details

Allysa Dittmar
(email protected)

About the company

https://www.csd.org/

SOURCE: Communication Services for the Deaf, Inc.