Half of deaf patients in the US don't receive an interpreter in healthcare settings.

They kept doing all these tests and they're telling me I need to stay two nights in the hospital and no one let me know why and it was just a terrible experience.

It's Tuesday, November 7th, 2023, but just like every day, it's Science Friday. I'm Scifry producer D. Peter Schmidt.

Many deaf patients report never getting an interpreter at the hospital or in their doctor's

office and end up being misdiagnosed and mistreated even though the law mandates that deaf patients receive interpreter assistance.

But the good news is that one hospital is changing its approach to caring for deaf patients by listening to what they need.

Ira Flato talks to a deaf patient advocate and a doctor about a program they worked on to improve care for deaf patients with diabetes.

In 2022, the University of Utah... for deaf patients with diabetes.

In 2022, the University of Utah Health

convened a panel made up of deaf patients

who advised the hospital about how it can best care for them and joining me to talk today

about the program are my guests Dr. Michelle Litchman, Medical Director of

Intensive Diabetes Education and Support Program at the University of Utah,

and Tamika Rafiq, a member of the group Deaf Diabetes Can Together, welcome both of you to Science Friday.

Thanks for having you here. I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Nice to have you. And just to note, this event was recorded as part of a live Zoom call in,

and you will hear Tamiko's words through an interpreter

who will also be interpreting for deaf

and hard-of-hearing people who will ask questions

throughout the interview.

Let me get right to my first question.

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