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Addressing Intersections in HIV/AIDS and Mental Health: The Role of Organizations for d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals in South Africa
- American Annals of the Deaf
- Gallaudet University Press
- Volume 156, Number 5, Winter 2012
- pp. 492-500
- 10.1353/aad.2012.1604
- Article
- Additional Information
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Like south africans generally, d/Deaf and hard of hearing South Africans are at risk of HIV/AIDS and mental disorders resulting from barriers to communication and care. In interviews and a focus group, members of South African organizations for d/Deaf and hard of hearing individuals all gave priority to HIV/AIDS education and prevention, citing risks resulting from language and communication barriers, inadequate schooling, and insufficient information in South African Sign Language. Participants gave varied descriptions of HIV/AIDS programs in schools for d/Deaf and hard of hearing students and described school initiatives they had directed. Some participants gave mental health problems lesser priority; others said susceptibility to mental disorders may result from communication difficulties and therefore warrants specialized services. Others, seeing a need to address mental health in HIV/AIDS prevention, had designed programs accordingly. Such prevention efforts merit support, as do activities to reduce communication barriers.