Hearing Impairment in a Masked World: The Impact of the Pandemic on Deaf Communities

Impact on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities

The Covid-19 Pandemic obviously impacted people on a global scale, but certain groups experienced greater societal and physical complications than others. The deaf and hard of hearing (HOH) community is one of those groups; with the impact of the pandemic causing not only greater social isolation but also lessened accessibility to medical information as well as potential physical difficulties as a result of masking.

Social Isolation

With the widespread use of masks and social distancing, a common concern amongst deaf and HOH populations was how they would communicate with the world. Masking means that people then lose the ability to read lips, limiting communication greatly, as lip-reading is how a large portion of deaf folk interact with those who don't speak sign language. Additionally, those who are hard of hearing or not fully deaf may use hearing aids, and the muffling of the masks makes it difficult for them to understand what is going on around them. This can lead to extreme social isolation, with multiple studies finding that the impact of this leads to increased anxiety levels and loneliness. There have even been some reports according to interviews as a part of a study by Young et al., that deaf and HOH people experienced differences in the way they viewed themselves and their deafness because the pandemic highlighted their differences, making their deafness more visible and obvious to others.

Difficulty Receiving Medical Information

People who are hearing don't realize just how much of the world is interpretated through sound. Even before covid, a deaf or HOH individual may use lip reading to obtain information, and even then, a large portion of comprehension relies of context, as lipreading can be easily misinterpreted. Deaf people may require an interpreter to communicate scientific jargon into visual language in order to get the full scope of the medical situation. This posed a problem during the earlier days of the pandemic, capacity was limited within hospital rooms, providing barriers on interpreters present in the room. With the limitation on in person interpreters, hospitals began to lean on virtual interpreters, which often have low quality or are glitchy, once again limiting the deaf and HOH community's access to medical information. Equity and quality of healthcare is compromised when there is a lack of medically trained interpreters available, meaning we as a society still have a long way to go in providing equitable healthcare to deaf and HOH individuals.

Physical Difficulties with Masking

A deaf or HOH individual often wears hearing aids, or even cochlear implants, both of which are electronic hearing devices worn around the ears. Since masks also are worn around your ears, many deaf and HOH folk report discomfort, and even fear of losing their hearing aids. Wearing a mask can impact the fit of a hearing aid and is at risk of falling off when removing the mask, making it something some deaf people feel fear and discomfort around wearing, hence a mask mandate for a global pandemic being very isolating. Certain masks may not only dampen your volume by about 5-15 decibels, but also reduce the clarity of speech, making it difficult for those with hearing impairments to interact with others.

Whilst the covid-19 pandemic impacted everyone, it is important to note that equity does not always mean equality. It is important to recognize when certain groups require tools for accessibility especially in a global pandemic. Deaf culture is rich, but deafness is still a disability, requiring certain accommodations that help them thrive in a world where hearing is the norm.

Citations

“A Tricky Combination: Face Masks, Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids.” Healthy Hearing, 9 June 2022, https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/53084-Face-masks-and-hearing-aids.

Moreland, Christopher J., et al. “Equitable Access to Telehealth and Other Services for Deaf People During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Health Equity, vol. 7, no. 1, Feb. 2023, pp. 126–36, https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2022.0115.

Panko, Tiffany L., et al. “The Deaf Community’s Experiences Navigating COVID-19 Pandemic Information.” HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. e162–70, https://doi.org/10.3928/24748307-20210503-01. Accessed 31 July 2025.

Phillips, Kaitlin. “COVID-19’s Complex Impact on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Population.” NCIOM, 12 July 2021, https://nciom.org/covid-19s-complex-impact-on-the-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-population/.

Salamah, Marzouqi A., et al. “The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Hearing Impaired.” Cureus, vol. 14, no. 11, p. e31348, https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.31348. Accessed 31 July 2025.

Young, Alys, et al. “What Did the Covid-19 Pandemic Reveal to Deaf Young People about Their Lives as Young Adults?” Disability & Society, vol. 40, no. 7, July 2025, pp. 1917–38, https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2024.2391771.

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