Navigating health care is difficult enough when English is your first language-;imagine the issue when American Sign is your first language. How can we bridge the linguistic and cultural gaps needed to higher look after patients? University of Utah Health is proud to present Language of Care, an incredible story of how a community of Deaf patients are breaking barriers by co-designing their very own care with University of Utah Health researchers.
Made possible by generous support from the Kahlert Foundation, Language of Care premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2023. The film showcases an revolutionary approach to health care being co-created by Michelle Litchman, PhD, her research team, and members of the Deaf community from across the country. Together, they lead a program called Deaf Diabetes Can Together. Litchman is a nurse practitioner, diabetes researcher, and Medical Director of the Intensive Diabetes Education and Support (IDEAS) Program on the University of Utah.
Nearly 40 million people within the U.S. live with diabetes, but the vast majority of Deaf individuals with diabetes would not have equal access to health care. The film tells the story of how Deaf Diabetes Can Together is creating solutions for health equity within the Deaf community. By understanding the community’s unique needs, the team is tailoring educational and other sorts of resources to extend access to accurate information and care. This model is being replicated for rural, Pacific Islander and other under-resourced communities.
“Together, with our patients, we’re changing the best way heath care works,” Litchman explains in Language of Care.
Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Ross Kauffman got here to Utah to document the Language of Care story. Kauffman has directed various award-winning movies, including Born into Brothels, Of Medicine and Miracles, and Tigerland. Language of Care was produced by Robin Honan with executive producers Joe Borgenicht of U of U Health, award-winning documentarian Geralyn Dreyfous, and Heather Kahlert of the Kahlert Foundation.
Language of Care is the third film within the U of U Health-produced series Recent Narratives in Health, which brings together scientists and artists to more broadly communicate advances in knowledge. The primary film within the series, One in a Million, tells the story of how advanced genomic technologies combined with expert clinical insights vastly improved the standard of life for Tyler, a boy with a rare, debilitating disease. The second, Meet Me Where I Am, follows Adolphus Nickleberry through his journey at U of U Health’s Intensive Outpatient Clinic as he rewrites his story, which had been shaped by health disparities.
Source:
University of Utah Health