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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Beatrice Greenbaum, MPH, MHA, Lawrence H. Pick, PhD, and Judith K. Lauterstein, PhD. New York Citizen’s Committee on Health Care Decisions, 1775 Broadway, Suite 300, New York, NY 10019, 212-586-4638, CONF4201@CS.COM

Hearing loss affects 1/3 of individuals over 65 years and becomes more prevalent with age. Estimates indicate that approximately 5.5% of the U.S. population has a hearing loss that significantly impairs their ability to hear and 0.46% of the population is unable to hear any normal conversation. These individuals frequently lack direct access to end-of-life care programs on par with those offered to hearing people. The goal of this project was to empower deaf citizens (60 years and older), in New York City, to act as informed principals and health care agents by providing Advance Care Planning (ACP) education in accordance with New York State Proxy Law for medical care decisions. Presenters from the New York Citizen's Committee on Health Care Decisions (Speakers Bureau), versed in ACP, received training in how to modify their existing outreach programs to meet the cultural and linguistic needs of deaf citizens. American Sign Language and Oral interpreters participated in a separate training to learn about the constructs and vocabulary specific to ACP and end-of-life issues. Community outreach programs were then developed specifically for deaf participants who represented diverse socioeconomic, educational, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. These programs were led by community members from the Speakers Bureau and facilitated by the interpreters. In each session participants were asked to complete questionnaires assessing their attitudes regarding death and dying, familiarity with end-of-life issues, and responses to the program format. During the current presentation we will provide a hands-on demonstration of our training program and discuss relevant findings.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant (learner) will be able to

• Describe the challenges faced by aging deaf individuals in accessing and understanding information pertaining to advance care planning.
• Adapt existing advance care planning materials to meet the unique cultural and linguistic needs of an urban deaf population.

Keywords: Aging, Deaf

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered