Imagine walking into a clinic where you cannot rely on your eyes to read a provider's expression or your ears to catch your name being called. For patients living with deafblindness — the combined loss of vision and hearing — this is daily life, and it makes the healthcare setting one of the most disorienting places they can enter. Yet with understanding and a few thoughtful adjustments, that same setting can become one where these patients feel respected, safe, and fully in charge of their own care.

Deafblindness Is a Spectrum, Not an Absence

The phrase "deaf and blind" can call to mind total silence and total darkness, but that image fits very few people. Most patients living with deafblindness have some usable vision, some usable hearing, or both. What defines the condition is that the two losses combine — each one limiting the strategies a person might otherwise use to compensate for the other.

Deafblindness has many causes. Some patients are born with it, through conditions such as Usher syndrome (which pairs hearing loss with progressive vision loss) or CHARGE syndrome. Many others acquire it later in life, and this group is growing: as the population ages, combined age-related hearing loss and vision loss — from macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, or diabetic retinopathy — is increasingly common and frequently under-recognized in older adults. A patient whose hearing aids and glasses no longer keep pace with both losses may be experiencing dual sensory impairment without anyone having named it.

Practical Steps for Healthcare Professionals

Speak to the patient, not the SSP or interpreter. Direct your questions, explanations, and eye contact to the patient. Phrases like "Does she understand?" addressed to a companion strip away dignity and autonomy. The patient is your patient.
Understand what an SSP is — and isn't. An SSP facilitates communication and access, but is not necessarily a qualified medical interpreter. For complex medical discussions, diagnoses, or informed consent, arrange a qualified interpreter (including a tactile or deafblind interpreter when needed) so nothing critical is lost.
Ask about communication preferences first. Before anything else, find out how the patient communicates best and follow their lead. Confirm understanding rather than assuming it.
Announce yourself and narrate your actions. Identify yourself each time you enter, and let the patient know when you are leaving so they are not left addressing an empty room. Explain what you are about to do before you touch them for any exam or procedure.
Allow extra time. Tactile communication, environmental description, and guiding all take longer than a standard visit. Building in time is not a courtesy — it is the difference between adequate and safe care.
Make the environment work for the senses that remain. Improve lighting, reduce glare, minimize background noise for patients with residual hearing, and use high-contrast, clutter-free spaces. Keep the patient's belongings and mobility aids where they left them.
Provide information in accessible formats. Offer consent forms, education, and instructions in braille, large print, audio, or screen-reader-compatible electronic formats — and read documents aloud or through the patient's preferred method when needed.

Protect autonomy in every decision. Mirror the SSP philosophy: give the patient complete information and let them decide. Never route consent or medical choices through a family member or SSP without confirming that this is genuinely what the patient wants.

Who Are Support Service Providers?

Support Service Providers are trained professionals who act as a bridge between patients living with deafblindness and the world around them. They facilitate communication, relay visual and environmental information, and provide human guide support for navigation. In everyday life, SSPs assist with tasks such as grocery shopping, using public transportation, making phone calls, and attending appointments and social events — helping patients live independently and with confidence.

One principle sits at the heart of the SSP philosophy, and it matters enormously in healthcare: respect for the patient's leadership and choices. A skilled SSP conveys information but does not make decisions, offer recommendations, or steer outcomes. The goal is to keep the patient in the driver's seat — informed, autonomous, and in control. Modern SSPs maintain a supportive but professional distance precisely to protect that objectivity.

The Bottom Line

Living with dual sensory loss presents real challenges, but with informed, compassionate care — and, where appropriate, the support of an SSP — patients living with deafblindness lead full, self-directed lives. As healthcare professionals, our role is not to speak or decide for these patients, but to remove barriers and hand them the information and access they need to lead their own care.

Understanding the deafblind experience, recognizing the vital role of Support Service Providers, and honoring each patient's autonomy are how we build a more inclusive and accessible healthcare system — one respectful interaction at a time. For patients and families seeking ongoing support, most states offer deafblind services and SSP programs that can be a valuable next step beyond the clinic.

Continuing the Mission of Access and Understanding

Adaptability for Life’s cultural competence - ethics continuing education courses provide engaging and practical skills in supporting their clients with vision/hearing loss.

Approvals - Accreditations:

OHA - Oregon Health Authority - Cultural Competence CE
CEP #18180 CA Board of Registered Nursing, Continuing Education Provider
NASW-OR Nat. Assoc. of Social Workers - Oregon Cultural Competence CE
CRCC - Commission on Rehabilitation Counselors Certification - Ethics CE

Who these courses are helpful for:

Nurses, Psychologist, LCSW, LFMT, PT, OT, SLP, ND, NP, PA, MD, DDS, LPC, Chiropractor, License Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist, Dentist, Dental Technologist, Dietitian, Emergency Medical Service Provider, Home Care Worker, Lactation Consultant, Long Term Care Administrator, Massage Therapist, Medical Imager, Midwife, Naturopathic Doctor, Occupational Therapist, Optometrist, Pharmacist, Polysomnographic Technologist/Respiratory Therapist, Social Workers, Caregivers and Families.

For those seeking to enhance their skills in communicating with those who have vision or hearing loss, consider enrolling.

2-Hour Cultural Competence CE: Effective Communication with Clients Who Are Hard of Hearing
4-Hour Cultural Competence and Ethics CE: Understanding the Diversity of Legal Blindness, Impacts & Solutions
6-Hour Cultural Competence and Ethics CE: Providing Culturally Competent Healthcare for Those Aging with Dual Sensory Impairments

Each course blends over 25 years of experience in rehabilitation counseling and disability services with lived insight and real-world examples. You’ll walk away with tools that help prevent social isolation, improve connection and communication, and foster hope—even in the face of progressive sensory loss.

What You’ll Gain

Strategies to prevent social isolation and despair
Tools to support clients experiencing progressive loss
Skills to improve communication and connection
Easy, low- or no-cost accessibility techniques
Real-world examples you can apply immediately

About the Instructor

Deb Marinos, MS, CRC, LPC, is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Oregon Licensed Professional Counselor, and CMBM Mind-Body Skills Group Facilitator. She brings decades of teaching experience with health care professionals and other working with individuals navigating sensory loss and disability. Her courses are designed to be interactive, helpful, and will give you more comfort in your work.

Take the Next Step

If you’re ready to strengthen your skills, deepen your empathy, and make your practice more inclusive—join Deb and Olaf on this journey.

👉 Explore the Cultural Competence & Ethics accredited continuing education courses and sign up today at Adaptability for Life

Adaptability for Life LLC
21887 SW Sherwood Blvd. STE C
Sherwood, OR 97140
deb@adaptabilityforlife.com

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Supporting Patients Living with Deafblindness s — A Guide for Healthcare Professionals