Key Healthcare Resources for People with Hearing Loss

Key resources for people with hearing loss in healthcare settings, effective communication, comorbidities, and disability health equity

See further articles, ADA info, and webinars on this website: ADA & Healthcare

Healthcare with Hearing Loss: Improving Communication Access in Medical Care

(33 min) May 27, 2026

Moderators Shari Eberts and Gael Hannan are joined by advocates Toni Iacolucci and Peggy Ellertsen to explore the urgent need for better communication access throughout the healthcare system. More information and transcript at Hearing Health & Technology Matters

Making Sense of Healthcare: Practical Health Literacy Skills for People with Hearing Loss.

Dr. Sam Atcherson, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences for HLAA-NYC (webinar, 1 hr 27 min) Apr 21, 2026

Healthcare can be confusing—especially with hearing loss. This talk broke down what “health literacy” really means and why it matters. Attendees learned simple, practical ways to communicate better with providers, to ask the right questions, and to make sure they truly understand your care. The goal was to help you feel more confident, prepared, and in control of your health conversations

Articles and Webinars

Most recent first

Oshita, J. Y., Morris, M. A., & Littenberg, B. (Mar 10, 2026). Social Risks Among Adults with Communication Disabilities: Findings from the National Health Interview Survey (2020-2023). Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Article in Press.
Lacey, C., Michaux, C., Zambetti, A., & Wargo, M. (Dec 12, 2025). An Audiology Program to Proactively Manage Inpatient Veterans With Hearing Loss. American Journal of Audiology.
McCaffrey, E. (Sept 17, 2025) Hospital Safety and Hearing Loss: A Hospital Panel Discussion (webinar, 1 hr 28 min), Hearing Loss Association of America. Handout
Atcherson, S. R., Finley, E. T., & Hahne, J. (Aug 11, 2025). Comparison of Prototype Transparent Mask, Opaque Mask, and No Mask on Speech Understanding in Noise. Audiology Research, 15(4), 103.
Beck, D. et al. (Feb 18, 2025) Untreated Hearing Loss, Hearing Aids, and Cognition: Correlational Outcomes 2025, HearingTracker.
Jawadi, Z., McInturff, S., & Chern, A. (May 28, 2024). Achieving telehealth equity for people with hearing loss. STAT.
Webb, A. (Spring 2022). Effective Communication in Medical Settings: Your Rights Under the Law. Hearing Life Magazine (2 pages, pdf).
Mestayer, K. (Dec 19, 2019) Have a Hearing Loss, in the Hospital? Hearing Health Foundation (webpage).
Hearing Loss Association of America articles.

Other Resources

Most recent first

Accessible Healthcare for People with Disabilities: An Implementation Guide for Healthcare Organizations (April 2026). Disability Equity Collaborative (DEC) (289 pages), which includes policy development, hearing loss, and multiple other topics.
HLAA (2024) Provider Guide and Patient Guide
Medicare & Medicaid Services (November 2023).
- Improving Access to Care for People with Disabilities with a handout
- Improving Communication Access for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (20 pages, pdf)
Facility Guidelines. Optimizing acoustic environments at healthcare facilities, Quiet Communities (webpage)
ADA Business Brief (August 11, 2005). Communicating with People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in Hospital Settings (webpage)

Short Videos

Runnion, E. (2025) Effective Communication For Hospital Patients With Hearing Loss. Explains the important reasons for effective communication in medical settings (5:25 minutes) by Students of Dr. Elizabeth Runnion at Nazareth University & HLAA Rochester NY Chapter Healthcare Taskforce
Pocker, R. (2024). Enhancing Healthcare: A Guide for Interacting with Individuals with Hearing Loss, individual contributor (4 minutes)

Last updated June 4, 2026

Resources

All healthcare webpages (this website)

Please email the Center for Hearing Access with corrections, additional apps, or additional products. Contact us (this website)