Barnett Steven
Department of Family Medicine, University of Rochester, NY 14620, USA.
Fam Med. 2002 May;34(5):376-82.
Although American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most commonly used primary language in the United States, physicians are often not adequately prepared for the challenges of conducting an interview with a deafpatient who signs.
A search of MEDLINE and PsychINFO databases for research on physician-patient communication and deaf people who use ASL was performed. Expert opinion helped guide discussion and recommendations.
Few articles examined physician-patient communication involving ASL. Deaf people and their physicians report difficulties with physician-patient communication. Deaf people also report fear that their health care is substandard because of these difficulties.
Preparing residents and medical students for working with patients and families who communicate in ASL presents many opportunities for teaching about physician-patient communication. ASL is quite different from English, and users of ASL often have sociocultural norms that differ from those of the majority culture. In addition to learning how to communicate with patients and families across languages and cultures, students and residents can learn how to collaborate with interpreters and how low literacy impacts physician-patient communication. Opportunities to teach about family dynamics, disability issues, and nonverbal communication also present themselves when working with families with Deaf members. Physician-patient communication involving ASL is an area that is ready for further research.
尽管美国手语（ASL）是美国第三大常用的主要语言，但医生往往没有充分准备好应对与使用手语的聋人患者进行访谈的挑战。
对MEDLINE和PsychINFO数据库进行检索，以查找关于医患沟通以及使用美国手语的聋人的研究。专家意见有助于指导讨论和提出建议。
很少有文章研究涉及美国手语的医患沟通。聋人及其医生报告称医患沟通存在困难。聋人还表示担心由于这些困难他们的医疗保健水平不达标。
让住院医师和医学生为与使用美国手语进行沟通的患者及其家属合作做好准备，为医患沟通教学提供了许多机会。美国手语与英语有很大不同，美国手语使用者的社会文化规范往往也与多数文化不同。除了学习如何跨语言和文化与患者及其家属沟通外，学生和住院医师还可以学习如何与口译员合作以及低文化水平如何影响医患沟通。在与有聋人成员的家庭合作时，也会出现关于家庭动态、残疾问题和非语言沟通教学的机会。涉及美国手语的医患沟通是一个有待进一步研究的领域。
