Hi-VisUK will be taking on the baton from our sister project In Good Hands to Make Every Contact Help in the health services arena. This provides a great opportunity to strengthen Hi-VisUK links with a wide range of health and wellbeing stakeholders, everyone from local authority meals services to community fire safety services.
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To be successful at Hi-VisUK we will constantly work to raise our profile at a local and regional level (as well as nationally). Opportunity to talk with other local disability organisations, national manufacturers and suppliers of aids and equipment is one part of a complex jigsaw of supporting organisations – who all need to know more about age acquired deafblindness. It is also an opportunity to meet older people with deafblindness who visited such events as photographed above.
Our OCN Level 2 course in Acquired Communications Disorders continues to show no signs of a decrease in interest. Care providers tell us there is nothing like this training anywhere else and that it is filling a huge gap in their understanding, confidence and skills – especially when combined with our highly practical and concise Hi-VisUK deafblindness training.
One example of how we connect people and organisations is when celebrating Older People’s Day. It is these themed events that create important opportunities to bring deafblindness into the ageing agenda.
Under the Care Act 2014 any older person who appears to have a need for support has the right to request a care eligibility assessment from their local authority. For an older person experiencing both a sight and a hearing loss, regardless of severity, they have the right to ask for a specialist deafblind assessment. As mentioned elsewhere on our site identifying people with deafblindness is very challenging because so few organisations and professionals understand it or what it looks like. and consequently most older people with the condition are not on anyone’s radar.
It is not uncommon for older people to go for months and even years between checks on their hearing aids pr the health pf their eyes and the quality of their vision.
October 1st is Older People’s Day in England. Hi-VisUK will be organising its unique friendly “Talk and TryTM” sessions in care settings. The aim is to support the Full of Life principle by talking with elderly residents who whilst not recognised as deafblind, are found to have problems with both senses. At our sessions they can learn about aids and support that can help them continue with activities and interests.
Typically around 20 elderly residents will enjoy tea and cakes and the chance to talk with Hi-VisUK staff. They will try a range of low cost, easy to see and use equipment that help with daily tasks. For example, equipment to help safely pour a hot drink reducing the risk of scalding; a reading guide to make reading a newspaper, a book or a letter more easy; high colour contrast non-slip mats to aid food preparation in the kitchen, and big print magazines and TV guides.
For residents whose hearing has deteriorated significantly, our staff find a quiet corner during the “talk and try” sessions for one-to-one conversations and to make the most of any residual hearing.
Hi-VisUK is a highly ambitious charity that, amongst other aims, is working to increase the number of older people with dual sensory loss or deafblindness requesting and receiving a specialist deafblind assessment. This is no easy task and yet it is the most vital step.
Trying to reach older people with age acquired deafblindness is a significant challenge despite the numbers. The vast majority of older people likely to have this devastating condition, those aged 50 years and above, do not see themselves as deafblind. Department of Health (DH) describes this in its Care Act policy guidance (2014) when it acknowledges “many people do not define themselves as either deafblind or having dual sensory loss.”
There are several issues and challenges in recognising deafblindness in older people. For example there are older people receiving social service care who are not identified as deafblind. DH explains: “this could be because an assessment was carried out when only one sense was affected or because both senses have deteriorated since the care package (including residential care) has started.” Other impairments including those that are often associated with ageing “may mask the deafblindness.”
This presents a nationwide picture where age-acquired deafblindness really is a Cinderella condition. This despite it currently affecting an estimated 600,000 older people. Government estimates 40/100,000 people have the condition in this country but this is likely to be closer to 572/100,000 according to one research report (Emerson, E, SENSE 2010). By 2035 the numbers of older people with deafblindness are set to rise by 60% within main population trends as people live longer lives (CeDR 2010, ONS 2012).
Our highly practical Deafblind courses give participants a uniquely rounded understanding of the role and the skills required when guiding a deafblind person. After our training, not only can you say what a communicator guide is but you can do it too! The day builds on our deafblindness awareness foundation course that participants need to do before they can enrol onto this course.
Participants particularly enjoy the challenge of guiding and of being guided blindfold or wearing sight-loss simulation glasses! Navigating around a room, up and down stairs, in and out of doors, sitting at a dinner table and getting into a car – such a lot to learn you may think but the feedback says: “Enjoyed it all day!” “Very good”, “I can use all I have learned straight away”, “The training I had getting a deafblind person into a car I will use tomorrow with my Grandad who is deafblind”.
Our unique Acquired Communication Disorders OCN Level 2 course looks at a range of disorders that can affect older people. Led by two qualified speech and language specialists, the feedback is good:
“Informative but not overloading”, “Great content!”, “Well delivered course”. “Ideas for communication were useful, I could use them with one client who would benefit”.
Participants learned about types of communication disorder acquired in older age. For example the various types of aphasia and dysarthia plus their impacts on speech and language. They then looked at useful communication aids and practical approaches.
Our Foundation course in deafblindeness awareness is proving to be really popular with a wide range of people. Particpants come from a broad range of organisations in the community, including care service providers from private, public and voluntary sectors.
Feedback is positive: “I enjoyed the whole course”, “I found it all very interesting”, I enjoyed learning about the obstacles a deafblind person faces in every day life”, “Am looking forward to your other training”, “Gained knowledge and guidance around different types of deafblindness”, Comprehensive outline of deafblindness that I feel I can put in to action at work and in my own life tomorrow”, “Lots of learning styles catered for!”,
21 sensory support and adult social care workers/managers/support workers attended our level 3 qualification Specialist Deafblind Assessor course.
Feedback has been very positive. Again, professionals said they cherished the opportunity to learn abut deafblindness together so they can take this back to their teams, and to “get to know how deafblind support is shaped across the region”.
HiVisUK sees enabling professionals to work together like this across the country as one of the keys to making real change for older people.
“I enjoyed both days. It really made me think of the affects of deafblindeness”. “It gave me a clear understanding of the Care Act 2014”. Many commented on how surprised they were at the prevalence of age acquired deafblindness in the older population; and how much the numbers will grow due to people living longer.
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