DeafHealth Responds to Federal Acknowledgement
Last week, DeafHealth submitted public comment, advocating for change. Responding to a proposed rulemaking by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, which agreed that people with disabilities face widespread discrimination in accessing healthcare, DeafHealth demanded more for our deaf communities.
The acknowledgement of bias and mistreatment that we face in everyday healthcare was profound, but it was no surprise for deaf communities who live this experience. While we were grateful and relieved that the federal government was recognizing this decades-long injustice, we advocated that more is needed to effectively challenge the status quo here.
Just as much as the law needs text, our communities need teeth; we need stronger enforcement of the laws. For too long we have borne the consequences of significant health disparities and poorer health outcomes. No more. Join us in that change.
Read more on DeafHealth's comment here.
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Video Description and Transcript
Video Description:
The post has a video thumbnail with blue shading overlaid. The middle has a text bubble that reads “Federal gov’t recognizes widespread discrimination” in white text with rose background. In the video: A woman with light brown long hair is standing in front of the camera with a blue couch and framed diplomas behind her. She is wearing a black blazer and a black shirt.
Transcript:
WOW. The federal government just acknowledged our experience, as people with disabilities relating to healthcare. They said: widespread discrimination. This is not a surprise for deaf communities. We live that experience. We know that. We also agree that it needs to change. DeafHealth agrees too, and we submitted a public comment saying that. We also said that we need more –We need more education, we need more enforcement. Historically, deaf communities bear the burden of the consequences of this discrimination and casual enforcement. No more. We can’t continue that. But DeafHealth is doing more than submitting letters like this. We are rolling our sleeves and actively participating in that change. Join us. [The screen fades to show a thumbnail of a faded white background of a doctor holding hands with another individual] Deaf. Healthy. DeafHealth. Learn more at www.deafhealthaccess.org.]