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Hearing Diversity and Inequality of Emergency Services: Perspectives On Greater Societal Inclusion For The Deaf

Academic Journal

Hearing Diversity and Inequality of Emergency Services: Perspectives on Greater Societal Inclusion for the Deaf

David Baldridge "Equality, Diversity and Inclusion" 19 pages 2025

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Journal Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 2025 Pages 1-19

Keywords
Management
Journal Article, Academic Journal

Overview

Purpose – We seek to investigate (1) Where are the perceived gaps or inequalities in emergency services for the Deaf? (2) How do perspectives on these inequalities differ across Deaf populations and emergency service providers?
Design/methodology/approach – We conducted three focus groups: two composed of Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) persons, and one composed of emergency service providers, with discussions recorded, transcribed, and then thematically coded. Themes were compared across different groups.
Findings – We found evidence of communication and accommodation needs among DHH persons during emergencies. Emergency response professionals, however, may not fully understand the different lived experience of DHH persons and do not have the training and resources needed to always provide accessible service, leading to serious inequality in emergency services provided to the DHH community.
Originality – We are among the first to investigate different perspectives on the gaps in emergency services for the DHH, extending the management literature on treatment of PWD in organizations to treatment of external organizational stakeholders at the industry level.

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“Accommodation crafting as a partial mediator of the effects of personal resources and organizational characteristics on task crafting”

Purpose. This study asks and attempts to answer the question: “Does accommodation crafting partially mediate the effects of personal resources (self-efficacy and political skill) and organizational characteristics (job autonomy and perceived organizational support) on employees who are Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) decisions' to engage in task crafting?”

Design/methodology/approach. Employees who are DHH (n = 225) completed an online questionnaire under conditions of anonymity unless they chose to participate in a cash drawing by providing their email address. Participants worked full-time (30 or more hours per week) in the United States.

Findings. Accommodation crafting was found to partially mediate the significant direct effects of self-efficacy, political skill and job autonomy on task crafting. Perceived organizational support was not found to be significantly related to accommodation crafting and was therefore excluded from partial mediation analyses.

Originality/value. For DHH employees participating in this study, we conclude that an enhanced understanding of the effects of personal resources and organizational characteristics on task crafting is conceivable when considering the partial mediation role of accommodation crafting. Simply put, we find evidence that these employees need to use accommodative resources to engage in accommodation crafting as an intermediate step before engaging in task crafting. Perhaps more importantly, this study may add a piece to the puzzle of how proactive behaviors might contribute to creating better employment opportunities for diversity, equity and inclusion for employees with disabilities.
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David Baldridge "Accommodation crafting as a partial mediator of the effects of personal resources and organizational characteristics on task crafting" Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 1-16 pages 2026

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