The clear masks have met the government’s strict safety standards and will be rolled out to frontline workers over the next few weeks. We hope that different services across the NHS and social care are able to access clear masks and effectively match them to patient need. It will also be important that these masks are complemented by effective communication tips and deaf awareness among staff to ensure that people with hearing loss get the support they need. Pitcher, D. & Ungerleider, L. G. Evidence for a third visual pathway specialized for social perception. Trends Cogn. Sci. 25, 100–110 (2021). You should try to only remove your face covering when you are in a place where your hearing aid or cochlear implant processor could be easily found if it falls out. Wood, A. & Niedenthal, P. Developing a social functional account of laughter. Soc. Personal. Psychol. Compass 12, e12383 (2018).

Gendron, M., Crivelli, C. & Barrett, L. F. Universality reconsidered: diversity in making meaning of facial expressions. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 27, 211–219 (2018). Some users told us that, in certain situations like on longer journeys, it was easier to wear a standard fabric mask and briefly remove it from behind the ear in moments where it is essential to communicate.A big question mark over these types of masks is how good they are at filtering particles. Unfortunately, we don't know yet as we haven't tested them. Oosterhof, N. N. & Todorov, A. The functional basis of face evaluation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 105, 11087–11092 (2008). Palagi, E., Celeghin, A., Tamietto, M., Winkielman, P. & Norscia, I. The neuroethology of spontaneous mimicry and emotional contagion in human and non-human animals. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 111, 149–165 (2020).

Clear face shields or visors, which you may have seen particularly in hospitality settings, offer good visuals and can be comfortable to wear, but they are not an ideal solution as they have shown to be less effective at preventing particles escaping when worn alone without a mask. Analyses were performed to investigate an effect of Condition (NM, SM, TM) on the re-identification scores with the aim of assessing the impact of the mask on the ability to remember a previously displayed face. For each participant we evaluated the percentage of correct answers by scoring each trial on a binary scale (1–0 points for each correct and incorrect responses, respectively). We ran a Kruskal–Wallis test considering the average scores for the three Conditions (NM, SM, TM). In case of significant effects, a Mann–Whitney tests (Bonferroni corrected) was applied as post-hoc test. Adolphs, R. Recognizing emotion from facial expressions: psychological and neurological mechanisms. Behav. Cogn. Neurosci. Rev. 1, 21–62 (2002). Abudarham, N. & Yovel, G. Same critical features are used for identification of familiarized and unfamiliar faces. Vision Res. 157, 105–111 (2019).

Discussion

The RNID has worked with the insurance provider More Th>n to offer free mask extenders to customers who've made a claim for lost hearing aids. Wong, C. K. M. et al. Effect of facemasks on empathy and relational continuity: A randomised controlled trial in primary care. BMC Fam. Pract. 14, (2013). The face is the part of an animal’s head that contains three sensory organs: the eyes, nose, and mouth, and through which animals exhibit a wide range of emotions. The face is important for human identity, and harm to it, such as scarring or developmental defects, has a negative impact on the psyche. This pandemic has posed numerous challenges to the sector, so we are always on the hunt for simple solutions to support those giving and receiving care.

The authors would like to thank Sherry Sancibrian for her contribution to discussion on the topic, thank Bailey Snyder and Delaney Dicristofaro for their help in conducting the experiment, and thank Barbara Davis for her contribution to read and review the entire manuscript. We would also like to express our gratitude to all of the participants who made this experiment possible and to the TTUHSC faculty members who helped recruit participants. Supplementary Material But others pointed out that putting masks with a clear panel into the washing machine caused the plastic to warp. The masks are see-through and have an anti-fogging barrier to ensure the face and mouth are always visible to help doctors, nurses and carers communicate better with their patients. Three types of transparent masks, designed not to fog up, are now approved for use as PPE in healthcare settings, and although they are not currently available on the NHS supply chain, they can be bought direct from suppliers. The government previously delivered 250,000 clear masks to frontline NHS and social care workers in September 2020. The mask has already been officially registered with the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as a CE marked medical mask, meaning it conforms to health, safety, and environmental protection standards in Europe.The charity has written to each NHS trust’s CEO saying clear masks could be considered “a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act”, and reminding them there are about 9 million people who are deaf or living with hearing loss in England. It said deaf people were struggling to communicate in medical appointments and at risk of serious consequences as a result. This applies across the whole of the UK and the government is working with the devolved administrations on allocations of the masks. The first delivery has already been distributed to NHS trusts, with further deliveries over the next couple of weeks.

Face covering buying and making guide - what to look for when buying a reusable covering, and how to make your own People need to understand the information and instructions that they are given by health and care professionals: ineffective communication and misunderstandings have the potential to harm the health and wellbeing of people with hearing loss. Martin, J., Rychlowska, M., Wood, A. & Niedenthal, P. Smiles as multipurpose social signals. Trends Cogn. Sci. 21, 864–877 (2017).Medical appointments can already be very stressful, so no one should have to endure an exhausting struggle just to understand the advice they’re being given,” Daniels said. “Every trust in the country needs to make the investment now because it really could be gamechanging.” They've grown in popularity over the past year, and are a necessary face-covering option to help make things easier for the deaf community.