ENCOUNTER: Enlighten Patient Doctor Communication Without Language Barrier

We all know that inclusivity in our health services is the most important thing to build and it is our job as medical students to create that environment in the future as a doctor. Based on the Riset Kesehatan Dasar (Riskesdas) 2019, 7,03% of people with disabilities in Indonesia are people with hearing disabilities. To help people with hearing disabilities, the government stated in ‘UU No.8 Tahun 2016 Pasal 68’ that central and regional governments are obliged to train health workers in their area to help patients with disabilities gain their health services easier. The fact is that the accessibility of health services for deaf patients in Indonesia remains minimum.

Therefore, SCOME CIMSA UGM held an event called “ENCOUNTER” (Enlighten Patient-Doctor Communication Without Language Barrier) with 3 interventions on March-April 2021. As the name implies, ENCOUNTER aimed to empower medical students by improving the way of communication with deaf patients to create inclusivity in our health services. Based on the aim of ENCOUNTER, SCOME CIMSA UGM gathered 30 medical students from the first and the second year to participate in all interventions of ENCOUNTER.

A webinar titled ‘Unfold The Exclusivity’ was the first intervention held on Saturday, 20 March 2021 attended by approximately 200 participants. The webinar was focused on discussing the health public services provided by the governance to the deaf, problems experienced by the deaf patients when they visit the healthcare facilities, and the ethical communication procedures between deaf patients and doctors with 3 outstanding speakers; Budhi Wibowo from Dinas Sosial Yogyakarta, Laura Lesmana Wijaya & Dafi Muchilisin from Pusbisindo, and drg. Gigi Carlo Ortega ‘Dokter Gigi Berisyarat’ through Zoom.

After the webinar, ENCOUNTER successfully held a basic sign language training as the second intervention titled ‘Discover The Unspoken Language’ for 30 participants. This activity was held on Friday, 9 April 2021 with trainers from PUSBISINDO; Gustian Hafidh Mahendra and Indra Kurmala. PUSBISINDO gave brief knowledge about deaf culture that is trivial to know before learning sign language. Here, participants learned how to do the alphabet and greetings in sign language.

The last intervention of ENCOUNTER was held on Saturday, 17 April 2021. This third intervention, titled ‘Explore Medical Terms of the Unspoken Language’, gave an opportunity for participants to learn basic medical terms such as the word ‘vomit’,’ fever’, and ‘menstruation’ in sign language that hopefully will be useful for participants as the future doctors.