In Switzerland, one person out of a hundred suffers from serious hearing impairment or complete hearing loss, whereas 13 % of the population is hard of hearing. Scientific literature shows that the global health of the hearing-impaired population is also an issue (psychological distress, sexual health, chronic diseases, access to messages of prevention). It is a little-known fact that deaf people form a real community, with a complete and proper system of communication ; they share cultural norms and values. The difficult access to care for this population calls for adaptations in the socio-sanitary world, thus enabling an effective level of communication and an appropriate handling of deaf patients.