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St. Catherine University

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

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Deaf ASL users

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Health, Human Rights, And Structural Violence: Identifying Barriers To Healthcare Access Of Deaf American Sign Language Users In Rhode Island, Christine A. West May 2022

Health, Human Rights, And Structural Violence: Identifying Barriers To Healthcare Access Of Deaf American Sign Language Users In Rhode Island, Christine A. West

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users possess both human and legal rights to health. Yet, despite these rights, this linguistic minority group continues to experience challenges in accessing health care services. Using a structural violence framework, this study identifies the barriers to healthcare access of Deaf ASL users in one particular state - Rhode Island. More specifically, this study seeks to uncover the structural and social forces that constrain agency of Deaf ASL users in their attempts to access healthcare. Survey methodology is used to obtain both qualitative and quantitative data from 11 community stakeholder groups. Results show that Deaf …