Systems of Communicating Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues between Hearing Parents and Their Deaf Adolescent Children in Western Kenya

Background: Deaf adolescent children face greater challenges in accessing information, particularly on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) than those with other forms of disability. Parents therefore represent the first source of information for such children. However, the extent of this and systems of communication used by these parents remain largely unknown. Therefore, it is against this backdrop that we sought to study systems of parents communicating SRH issues to their children.

Methods: A mixed method design was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data on the system of communication used by the sign-language illiterate parents respectively, their perceptions on such discussions and the choice of system of communication. A sample size of 384 parent-child pairs was selected using systematic probability sampling for the quantitative component of the study. For the qualitative component, respondents were recruited using a purposive convenience sampling method which though non-representative, allowed the investigator to choose participants best suited for the intended objective. The study was carried out in ten schools; randomly selected from a sample frame comprising of a list of primary and secondary schools for deaf children within the former Nyanza region of western Kenya. Data was collected using anonymized questionnaires and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs).

Results: Majority of the male parents 90 (23.4%) were in the age range of 51-60 years, while most female parents 134 (34.8%) were in the age category of 40-50 years. Nearly 70% (67%) of the children were in the age range of 15-19 years. Overall, use of picture came out as the main mode/format of communication (33%); with females using it more (23%) compared to males 12.3%. Lip-reading (children reading the lips of their parents), was principally used by male parents. 32(8.3%) parents falling within the age group 41-50 and 51-60 years felt that the information they had on SRH was inadequate. More so, in a qualitative interview, most parents were not satisfied that they had provided enough information to their children on matters of SRH due to communication barrier. Some of the emerging themes from the FGDs were: parents lack a proper approach of conveying SRH information to their deaf adolescent children, unresponsiveness/lack of interest by deaf adolescent children, wrong translation of information conveyed and insufficient time with their deaf adolescent children to pass across these messages.

Conclusion: Children with hard hearing are less likely to get adequate information on SRH than their counterparts with no hearing impairment.