First diabetes information website in ASL launches

A diabetes diagnosis comes with a massive laundry list of things to learn: How will this affect my life? Which lifestyle changes will help me manage my symptoms? When do I need to go to the doctor?

It’s a difficult task at the best of times, and the job gets even harder when there’s no good information about the disease in your first language.

This is the reality faced by many deaf people with diabetes. Most doctors don’t know American Sign Language (ASL), and interpreters who are brought in to help translate are often unfamiliar with the specific signs related to the specialized diabetes vocabulary. What’s more, online health resources in ASL are few and far between; most are not reviewed by medical professionals.

Now, researchers and clinicians at University of Utah Health have launched the first ASL website for people with diabetes, Deaf Diabetes Can Together, aiming to provide reliable health information to all. 

Bridging the communication gap

Deaf and hard of hearing people are at three times higher risk for diabetes, making the need for reliable health information especially urgent. Michelle Litchman, PhD, FNP, associate professor in the University of Utah College of Nursing, one of the creators of the website, and a child of a deaf adult, explains that providing information in ASL, not just written English, is critical. 

“American Sign Language is not visual English,” Litchman says. “It has a completely different grammar and syntax, and it’s its own unique language. So providing a written English text is like if I handed you something in French.” While many people whose primary language is ASL are bilingual, not everyone is, and regardless, being able to receive health care information in one’s first language is ideal.

The website uses GIFs of people signing as headings and videos for the bulk of the informational content. It contains vital health information on topics ranging from how to check blood sugar and use insulin, to how food and exercise impact diabetes, to recommendations related to self-advocacy, working with support people, and mental wellness.

The informational videos on the website are designed to be accessible to everyone—in addition to the presenter signing in ASL, videos include informational graphics, text closed captions, and spoken voiceover in English. The site also includes a comprehensive video ASL glossary of diabetes-related terms—an essential tool in the toolbox for patients and interpreters to communicate important health information—as well as resources to help find certified ASL interpreters. 

For deaf people, by deaf people

Litchman emphasizes that the website’s content and design have been shaped at every level by deaf researchers, webmasters, and community board members. Additionally, all videos were recorded by deaf actors in a deaf-owned studio. “We try to have everything be as deaf-led as possible,” she says. 

The researchers are continuing to improve and expand the site to add resources for clinicians and interpreters. In future work, the team also aims to build an additional glossary of ASL terms related to heart disease and heart health, with the ultimate goal of expanding the project to provide accurate heart health information to people whose first language is ASL.

Litchman says that her work on the project is motivated in part by seeing how existing health care resources don’t always address the needs of her own family. 

“I have six deaf family members, including my mom, and I have seen how the health care system sometimes fails to provide the information my family members need in ASL,” Litchman says. “It shouldn’t be that way. It should be that whatever language you use, we figure out how to make information accessible in it.”

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This work was supported by the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the American Diabetes Association, and the Margolis Foundation. Content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.