Part one of term paper
Successful interaction with patients who are deaf or hard of hearing requires an understanding of background issues, including the significance of the age of onset of deafness, the patient's choice of language, the patient's cultural identification and educational history, and the type of hearing loss. All of these factors should influence t ...

Part two of term paper
... with their physicians.(n2) Most physicians' training and practice focus more heavily on the audiologic and pathologic aspects of hearing loss--etiology, detection and treatment--than on the issues that affect successful communication. An improved physician-patient alliance may be achieved with a better understanding of background issues, assistive devices, interview techniques and sources of further information. Guidelines for assessment of deaf and hard-of-hearing patients are provided in Table 1. ...