Communication challenges faced by deaf patients in Zimbabwe’s health domain

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Article 3
Published: Jun 5, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59677/njllcs.v17i2.87
Keywords:
health communication, sign language, language rights, language policy

Main Article Content

Tawanda Matende
University of Zimbabwe
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2214-0760
Victor Mugari
University of Zimbabwe
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5181-8617
Paul Svongoro
University of the Western Cape
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3186-339X

Abstract

This article explores the politics of inclusion and exclusion of the Deaf community in Zimbabwe's health sector, focusing on the marginalisation of Sign Language. It examines the use of Sign Language in major referral hospitals such as Parirenyatwa and Sally Mugabe, and the attitudes of nurses and doctors towards its use. The research aims to understand the lack of resources and programmes for the deaf community, as medical practitioners primarily use spoken language for communication. Data for the study were collected through questionnaires directed to the administration, doctors, nurses and Deaf patients at Parirenyatwa and Sally Mugabe Hospitals, and from two bus termini where the deaf are concentrated. Supplementary data were collected through focus group discussions and interviews with the Deaf. Data were presented and analysed using a thematic approach. The findings of the study are that there is no defined use and awareness of Sign Language in hospitals, and where there is awareness; the interventions have been weak, thereby failing to ameliorate communication challenges in healthcare settings.

Article Details

How to Cite
Matende, T., Mugari, V., & Svongoro, P. (2025). Communication challenges faced by deaf patients in Zimbabwe’s health domain. Namibian Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Communication Studies, 17(2), 43–60. https://doi.org/10.59677/njllcs.v17i2.87
Issue
Vol. 17 No. 2 (2023): Namibian Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Communication Studies
Section
Articles
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Author Biographies

Tawanda Matende, University of Zimbabwe

Mr Tawanda Matende is a Canon Collins scholar and a lecturer in the Department of Languages, Literature and Culture at the University of Zimbabwe. He is completing his PhD with the University of Venda in South Africa. His research interests are in the areas of Sign Language, language policy and planning, language and sustainable development, linguistic human rights and translation and interpretation.

Victor Mugari, University of Zimbabwe

Prof Victor Mugari is the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zimbabwe where he served as the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Chairman of the Department of Linguistics. He is an Associate Professor of Linguistics who graduated with a Doctoral degree in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics from the Beijing Language and Culture University (China). His research interests include Syntax and its interfaces with Semantics, Morphology, Sociolinguistics, Strategic Communication, Bilingualism and Second Language Learning. He is currently working on Sign language research, and language in ICT research. His research has seen him getting awards including, inter alia, the UZ Research, Innovation and Industrialisation Week Awards 2023 best Humanities Project, the Association of African Languages Association of Southern Africa (ALASA) best Linguistics Paper 2015, The University of Zimbabwe Faculty of Arts Research Awards 2017 for the most prolific research category and the Research and Intellectual Expo second Prize 2012.

Paul Svongoro, University of the Western Cape

Dr Paul Svongoro is a Research Fellow in the Department of African Languages at the University of South Africa. He assumed this position soon after completing his Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He holds a PhD in Translation and Interpretation from the University of the Witwatersrand and has over 14 years of university teaching experience. He conducts research and publishes in the areas of corpus-based translation studies, court interpretation, the interface between language and the law, academic literacy and professional communication skills.

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