Answer to questions (in written English)

Below are the answers to questions in written English

1.  May we know your thoughts on the concept of “Deaf Gain” and its relationship to mental health?

The concept of Deaf Gain is to reframe the idea that being deaf has a negative connotation (e.g. unable to hear, unable to contribute, and so forth) and to consider it in a positive light, focusing on the value of a d/Deaf person and what it is to live a life as a visual human being. It is about human diversity and recognising that different contributions are made by different people, such as visual beings (i.e. d/Deaf people). Deaf Gain is not a quantitative measurement, therefore examining its relationship to mental health (e.g. how good is the health state of one being) is not straight forward.

2. It seems that deaf health outcomes, no matter mental or physical, come from whether they receive the same equality experience. Are there any cultural factors that contribute to mental health disparities among the deaf population?

In general, health outcomes (in both physical and mental health) are poorer for Deaf people when compared to their hearing counterparts. There are many reasons, and it is complex, access to health services, education and health literacy are generally poor for Deaf people. There are numerous of cultural factors that also contribute to health inequalities for Deaf people, such as the Deaf community considering mental health difficulties as a taboo topic (Deaf people do not talk enough about mental health / health related difficulties issues). There is also a lack of trust in health services, resulting in people being less likely to come forward to seek help which can make health difficulties worse. Another example of cultural factors would be the lack of culturally appropriate instruments to measure the health status of Deaf people.

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