Health awareness for Deaf people

Transcription

1 April 2015 Health awareness for Deaf people Community Cash Fund This report outlines the initial recognition of need for health awareness for Deaf people, the application process, planning, delivery and evaluation of six sessions provided in Farnborough Hampshire over the period October 2014 to April It also highlights the need for Champions to ensure the success of such projects and makes recommendations for future provision. In this report we use Deaf people with a capital D to mean people who have British Sign Language (BSL) as their first or preferred language.

2 The initial application to and delivered in their first and healthwatch Hampshire was preferred language within an made by an individual, Jose environment that was Harrap, who as a retired sympathetic to their needs. Frimley Health Occupational NHS Foundation Therapist Trust with provides NHS hospital services for 900,000 peo The Community Cash Fund was experience of working within promoted by healthwatch on It came into being Health, on Social October Services 1, 2014 and following Twitter the and amalgamation followed up by of two an neighbouring another. Education, had recognised that on-line application to provide 6 Deaf people had a thirst for sessions in British Sign Services are health delivered information from three that main was hospital Language sites at with Frimley speakers Park, from near Camberley, satellite centres. accessible, informative, reliable the local hospital. As well as delivering excellent district general hospital services to its population the tru services across a wide catchment. Beco The success of this short project was entirely dependent upon having sought out and gained the cooperation of two essential partners who acted as Champions within their own specialist areas the Deaf World and the local hospital Champion - Deaf Penny Gunn Director of Signforthoughts - a highly successful British Sign Language (BSL) training establishment in Farnborough

3 Champion - Health ith pre Sally McLaren FPH Fundraising Manager Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust provides NHS hospital services for 900,000 people across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and South Buckinghamshire. It came into being on 01 October 2014 following the amalgamation of two hospital trusts. It was the first successful acquisition of one hospital trust by another. As well as delivering excellent district general hospital services to its population the trust has specialist heart attack, vascular, stroke, spinal, cystic fibrosis and plastic services across a wide catchment. Aims and Objectives To provide six health awareness sessions for Deaf people in the Farnborough area of Hampshire in order to highlight the need, gain feedback from all parties in order to evaluate the provision and inform recommendations for future development. Provide six sessions Ensure high quality specialist presenters Ensure appropriate BSL interpreter available Ensure sympathetic environment Agree topics to be covered according to demand Invite feedback from participants, speakers and organisers

4 Rationale Research shows that in hospital settings, effective communication can result in: Shorter lengths of stay Fewer readmissions Fewer visits to A&E Better treatment adherence Better medical follow-up Fewer unnecessary diagnostic tests Better healthcare outcomes Better patient health care satisfaction National Association for the Deaf (USA) Much of the general knowledge that we all gather about health is as a result of hearing topics on TV and radio perhaps while driving etc., or in informal conversations with work colleagues, family and friends about their own and their loved one s experiences. These are not common experiences for Deaf people. Information sought via the internet or via newspaper or magazine articles is often difficult to decipher due to the use of jargon or complex language. There is likelihood of reduced life expectancy in Deaf people. University of Bristol & Signhealth Most health professionals seemed to be completely unaware that these barriers exist. Health Access. As Deaf people we face everyday barriers that the wider community simply wouldn t put up with. Can you imagine forcing hearing people to walk to their GP s surgery to book an appointment? Can you imagine them having to explain their problems to a Doctor who does not speak English and who replies in another language? SICK OF IT. Signhealth.org.uk Generally speaking, Deaf people are as active as hearing people, eat similar amounts of vegetables, drink less alcohol and smoke far fewer cigarettes. So why are they more likely to be overweight, twice as likely to have high blood pressure and four times as likely to be on the verge of diabetes? Why are so many unknowingly living with health issues which can lead to heart attacks, strokes and other serious conditions? The answer is lack of information, poor communication and unnecessary difficulties in getting to the doctor in the first place. All of that is outside the control of Deaf people themselves. Modern healthcare places great importance on giving people information to allow them to make healthy choices. Hearing people are bombarded with advice but we have found a shocking lack of even basic health information in British Sign Language. In this internet enabled world of connectivity, 45% of Deaf people still have to walk into their GP surgery to make an appointment because of a lack of other ways to do it. When sign language users finally get to see their doctor they re forced to communicate in ways that cause misunderstandings confusion, missed diagnosis and poor treatment. 8 in 10 Deaf people want to use sign language. 3 in 10 are given the chance. Our health system is failing Deaf people. It s gone on too long. Solutions are simple, affordable and would save up to 30million a year. SICK OF IT. Signhealth

5 The process Partnership Champions were identified and invited to meet with the project manager to discuss roles and ways forward. (Appendix ) Sally McLaren agreed to approach suitable speakers from the hospital once topics had been agreed. Penny Gunn agreed to take on the role of linking with the Deaf community to seek their views on topics and to promote the programme. It was agreed to utilise the excellent fully accessible training facility afforded by Signforthoughts as this was a well-known venue in the Deaf community and people would trust the Director Penny Gunn to make appropriate provision for their needs. Penny also agreed to host the events along with Jose as project manager and to arrange suitably trained Interpreters for every session. It was agreed to seek some initial guidance from Deaf people as to their preferred subject areas for presentations. A list of mutually convenient preferred dates was agreed and a short briefing paper devised to support speakers in working with an interpreter. (Appendices) Delivery The following topics having been chosen, the word was initially circulated among the Deaf community by Penny Gunn via Facebook, direct , Twitter and Whats App and very quickly forwarded by recipients to their friends and family members. Breast Cancer Prostate Cancer Bladder problems Dementia Diabetes Arthritis

6 Results Response to promotion of the sessions was both immediate and enthusiastic. Numbers were dictated by the size of the room and available seating. Both the Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer sessions were so popular that a waiting list was created and unfortunately a number of people could not be accommodated. (More chairs were provided prior to the Prostate Cancer session but there remained more demand than could be met.) Numbers: Breast Cancer 9 Female 3 Male Total 12 Prostate Cancer 8 Female 8 Male Total 16 Bladder problems 11 Female 3 Male Total 14 Dementia 8 Female 2 Male Total 10 Arthritis Diabetes Yet to be delivered Yet to be delivered Ms Isabella Karat Consultant Surgeon. Breast Care Mr Simon Bott Consultant Surgeon. Urology

7 Feedback - participants It was suggested that the level of impact of the sessions on those taking part was best captured in BSL via video rather than written comments. Deaf participants were invited to return to the venue when a member of healthwatch Hampshire could be present to video their responses and reactions to the sessions completed. In the event 7 Deaf people arrived and were invited to express their views both as a group and individually. They were also asked to share their collective and individual experiences of access to a range of health services both as service users and as carers for sick partners or children. This evidence will be available to accompany this report but in brief the most significant comments re the health awareness sessions were: It was wonderful to have such interesting information presented in a way that we could all understand. I had no idea that HRT and Hysterectomy were not the same thing! The PowerPoint information was very helpful and added to the learning. Our local Health Trust organises very good talks and will organise a BSL Interpreter for us but I ve found that its all delivered very fast and is very hearing based. I d be very scared to ask any questions for fear of embarrassment. With these sessions we could ask all the questions we wanted and learn from each other s questions too. In our Deaf Club, we tried to organise sessions like these but people always cancelled at the last minute so it didn t happen. It was really good that the speakers understood to talk directly to us and maintain eye contact rather than talk to the interpreter

8 Feedback speakers I found it interesting and rewarding. I hadn t appreciated the impact deafness can have on conveying health matters so I was delighted to come and talk to the group. Simon Bott Consultant Urologist. I arrived after a particularly difficult outpatients clinic, in the rain, feeling grumpy and left feeling restored. It was a joy to have such an attentive audience who clearly had a thirst for information and explanation and whose difficulties I now have a far greater appreciation of! Bruce Montgomery Consultant Urologist

9 I really enjoyed meeting this group of people who were so interested in interested and enthusiastic to learn and asked so many questions. It must have gone well as I have now been approached to talk to a group of Deaf ladies in Sussex! There is obviously a great demand for such information in a way that people can understand it. Isabella Karat Consultant Breast Surgeon Recommendations That Health Trusts within the region consider their positions on access to health information for Deaf people. That this particular scheme based in Farnborough be extended to cover the list of topics identified that have been unmet: o Cardiac o Eyes o Liver/Alcohol o Healthy eating/exercise o Menopause o Signs & Symptoms that should not be ignored o Mental Health o First Aid o Dental health Some of which could be very capably and possibly better covered by health professionals other than Consultants. That future events be accommodated in the hospital Post Grad Training Suite now that the potential audience has confidence that informal links with the local hospital.

10 That members of the hospital management consider utilising the access that has been built with this group to advise and inform improvements on access and services for Deaf people and better understanding of their needs. As a direct result of the success of this project in raising awareness within the hospital, Frimley Park Hospital s Director of Nursing, Ms Nicola Ranger, has met with Penny Gunn from Signforthoughts to discuss the initial implementation of some Deaf Awareness Training for hospital staff. It is to be hoped that this step will encourage further interest in this topic and possibly lead to some key members of staff being enabled to learn some basic sign language. Appendices: Two sheets of notes from initial meetings Project Manager and Champions Simple flyer prepared and circulated to members of Deaf community Briefing paper on working with interpreters Jose Harrap April 2015