This year’s Deaf Awareness Week runs from 6th – 12th May. The aim of Deaf Awareness Week is to promote greater awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by the Deaf community. Aiming to break down the communication barriers that prevent Deaf people from fully participating in society.
Deaf people are twice as likely to experience mental health issues compared to the general population. These difficulties are often made worse by the problems Deaf people can face when communicating with their healthcare providers.
This is why the Northeast Mental Health and Deafness service is highlighting the importance of supporting people who are deaf / deaf blind to access mental health services.
The service is a TEWV and CNTW partnership for Deaf and Deaf/blind people aged 18 years or older who mainly use British Sign Language to communicate and who have mental health problems.
Our team, work with local community mental health teams, offering assessment, treatment and advice. They also ensure that communication is accessible and meets people’s needs.
This can include supporting people to have British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters for appointments, advising teams about using written information including text messages, and adapting letters and resources to ensure these are accessible to the person.
The importance of trust, and how we build it
The theme of Deaf Awareness Week this year is ‘Love and Trust’.
Sadly, many Deaf people have had negative experiences of healthcare. They’ve been let down, not understood or not able to communicate their thoughts, feelings and wishes. This can lead to a breakdown in trust.
The Mental Health and Deafness Service team understand this and do things differently. We talk about this to people who use our services. Taking time to make sure people understand their choices, are understood, and that they can make their own decisions.
We work in collaboration with all colleagues to ensure equal access to healthcare. This means we can support our colleagues to understand the experience of being Deaf. We explain how this can affect the person’s trust in the healthcare system and the barriers they can experience when engaging with professionals.
Emmanuel Chan, nurse at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) said: “The Northeast Mental Health and Deafness service makes a huge difference to people living across the Northeast. It helps them to feel more connected and included in their care. This in turn ensures a trusted and positive relationship. It’s so important that people are aware of the service and the support we can provide.”
Graham’s story
Graham, a carer from Durham has experience of using the service and said: “The Mental Health and Deafness service has been really helpful in advocating concerns about my communication needs and helping me to get the support that I need. I attended the carers’ advice and support group for deaf people in Middlesbrough and met other carers. I realised that we have gone through similar experience despite I am the only deaf carer there. I have now got my communication passport that I can share with others to self-advocate and “speak up” for myself.”
“Respecting my accessibility requirements and making reasonable adjustment for my needs are important to me. It can secure my trust in others as well as my own confidence.”
“I have learned more about technology and online services for deaf people. I still prefer face to face contact and travel locally and far to visit my deaf friends and family.”
Find out more
If you live in the Northeast of England and are Deaf / deaf/blind and think you may have a mental health condition, please speak to your GP who will be able to make a referral to the Northeast Mental Health and Deafness Service for you. You can also find further information on the TEWV website for County Durham and Teesside (www.tewv.nhs.uk) and on the CNTW website for the rest of the Northeast (www.cntw.nhs.uk). Search Mental Health and Deafness.
In addition to the service people who are deaf or deaf/blind, can also contact their local teams using the Text Relay 18001 service or via the Text Relay apps.
