Addressing Mental Health Needs for Deaf Patients Through an Integrated Health Care Model.

ABSTRACT

Deaf individuals struggle with accessing mental health services because of language and cultural discordance. Our project's purpose was to design and pilot an accessible, integrated mental health program for the Deaf population, scalable for other health centers interested in serving these individuals. Our team addressed several identified barriers to care. The addition of a language-concordant mental health clinician and telemental health appointments helped us better manage Deaf patients' mental health needs. Individual and clinic level data were collected and analyzed. Results demonstrated a significant improvement in the patients' depression and anxiety scores from their baseline to their last documented visit. Patient satisfaction overall was high. Telemental health appears to be a feasible tool to address some of the mental health gaps in the Deaf community. Further studies are needed to demonstrate how this program can be effective within a larger geographical area.