Direct, interpreter-mediated or translated? A qualitative study of access to preventive and ongoing healthcare information for Australian deaf people

The chapter will give an overview of a qualitative study conducted in Australia, which sought to gain an in-depth picture of the preventive and on-going needs of deaf people that use Auslan in terms of access to healthcare information. Using a purposeful sampling approach, this study surveyed the Deaf community throughout Australia about their perceived health information and communication access needs through face-to-face interviews and focus groups conducted in Auslan by deaf peers. Each filmed interview was thematically analyzed for key issues in relation to access to healthcare information, and whether deaf people receive information directly in Auslan, via an interpreter, or through translated materials. The investigation of healthcare needs of different generations of deaf people in Australia directly informs the policy and provision of on-going and preventive healthcare information to deaf people in Auslan (via interpreters or other translated texts). In the long-term, federal and state governments will be able to predict and plan for healthcare support needs of the Deaf community.