ENCOUNTER 2.0: Enlighten Patient Doctor Communication without Language Barrier

Based on WHO 2019 data, 466 million people who have hearing loss urgently need proper health services, so effective communication is needed between doctors, medical personnel, and patients with disabilities. SCOME CIMSA UGM, which has been committed from the start with its focus on improving human resources for health, presents Encounter 2.0 as a form of our concern with this issue.

Encounter 2.0 is a SCOME CIMSA UGM activity to continue the last Encounter which was held the previous year. With the same theme, namely “Inclusivity in Health Services for Deaf Friends” and the tagline “Unfold the Exclusivity and Discover the Unspoken Language” Encounter 2.0 comes with several new innovations. Encounter 2.0 consists of 3 interventions. The first intervention, which was held on April 9, 2022, consisted of a talk show with 2 topics, namely “creating disability-friendly innovations for Deafs and health service providers” and “Towards Inclusiveness of Deafs in the field of work” as well as a webinar with the theme “Communication Etiquette with Deafs”. Both agendas were attended by medical students from all over Indonesia. We are honored to be able to work with two startups that focus on this issue, namely Silang.id and Hear Me as well as a language institution, namely PUSBISINDO DIY.

In the second intervention, we carried out sign language training for UGM medical students on April 16, 2022. This training covered the topic of “Greetings and Alphabets in Sign Language and Conversations and Daily Expressions in Sign Language”. With a trainer from PUSBISINDO DIY, this activity was enthusiastically followed by the participants and also the Encounter 2.0 organizing committees. Participants and organizing committees were also given follow-up tasks in the form of interactive quizzes through Instagram filters.

We don’t want the knowledge gained to stop only among medical students, so, in the third intervention, we also carried out a ground campaign for the society, specifically the people around Jl. Malioboro. The Ground Campaign was held on April 10, 2022 by the Encounter 2.0 organizing committees. We provide education to the public about Deaf culture and the ethics of communicating with Deafs.

We hope through Encounter 2.0 many benefits and also good things can be taken by all parties involved, both participants, organizing committees, and the society. And most importantly, we hope that Encounter 2.0 can provide future doctors with the ability to create more inclusive health services for people with disabilities, especially Deafs.