Chua Hillary
Legal Clinic LLC, Singapore.
Asian Bioeth Rev. 2019 Nov 30;11(4):377-390. doi: 10.1007/s41649-019-00104-3. eCollection 2019 Dec.
Good communication between healthcare providers and patients is vital to effective healthcare. In order to understand patients' complaints, make accurate diagnoses, obtain informed consent and explain treatment regimens, clinicians must communicate well with their patients. This can be challenging when treating patients from unfamiliar cultural backgrounds, such as the Deaf. Not only are they a linguistic and cultural minority, they are also members of the world's largest and oft-forgotten minority group: the disability community. Under Article 25 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ("CRPD"), persons with disabilities have rights to the same range, quality and standard of free or affordable healthcare and programmes as provided to other people. Yet communication barriers and healthcare providers' lack of familiarity with Deaf culture can impair the quality and accessibility of healthcare for the Deaf. This essay analyses the scope of this issue in Singapore: a state party to the CRPD which has a vibrant Deaf community, and yet no legislative or constitutional guarantees of the rights of persons with disabilities. In addition to exploring the communication barriers faced by Deaf patients in Singapore, this essay highlights ways in which healthcare providers and the state can support community-based initiatives to overcome these barriers.
医疗服务提供者与患者之间的良好沟通对于有效的医疗保健至关重要。为了理解患者的诉求、做出准确的诊断、获得知情同意并解释治疗方案，临床医生必须与患者进行良好的沟通。在治疗来自陌生文化背景的患者（如聋人）时，这可能具有挑战性。他们不仅是语言和文化上的少数群体，也是世界上最大且常被遗忘的少数群体：残疾人群体的成员。根据《联合国残疾人权利公约》（“《公约》”）第25条，残疾人有权享有与其他人相同范围、质量和标准的免费或负担得起的医疗保健及方案。然而，沟通障碍以及医疗服务提供者对聋人文化的不熟悉会损害聋人获得医疗保健的质量和可及性。本文分析了新加坡这一问题的范围：新加坡是《公约》缔约国，有一个充满活力的聋人社区，但却没有关于残疾人权利的立法或宪法保障。除了探讨新加坡聋人患者面临的沟通障碍外，本文还强调了医疗服务提供者和国家可以支持基于社区的举措以克服这些障碍的方式。
