January 2008 - latest news

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BSMHD 2008 Annual Conference

The BSMHD 2008 Annual Conference will be held on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 May 2008 at the Thistle Hotel, Edinburgh. The programme is being developed and the delegate booking forms will be available shortly. For further details please contact Clare Long, the conference organiser, at [email protected] .

CALL FOR PAPERS – 2008 BSMHD Annual Conference Edinburgh

Abstracts of papers for consideration by the conference committee are requested on any subject relating to Mental Health and Deafness. The sub-themes for the break-out sessions at the conference are: Service Development in Scotland; International Services; Language issues; Primary Care; Professional Development; and Complex Problems. However if you are unsure if your paper fits into one of the sub-themes do please contact us to discuss. Presentations and workshops that include User Involvement are particularly encouraged.

The official languages for presentations will be English and British Sign Language. Simultaneous interpreting will be provided for all sessions between English and British Sign Language. Some sessions will also have a verbatim speech to text transcription service.

Abstracts (max 2 pages A4) must be submitted by email attachment in text (.doc, .txt, .rtf) to [email protected] by 1 March 2008, please do not send PowerPoint presentations. The conference committee will select the most appropriate presentations and a decision will be made by 14 March 2008. Full papers will be required by 2 May 2008 to give time for the communication support team to prepare for the presentation.

There will also be a small exhibition attached to the conference, organisations interested in booking exhibition space please contact Clare Long, the conference organiser, at [email protected] .

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Next BSMHD meeting – Birmingham 13 March 2008

The next BSMHD meeting will be held in Birmingham on 13 March 2008 at the Deaf Cultural Centre, Ladywood Road, Birmingham, B16 8SZ. The meeting will be an opportunity to meet staff from the Health Services and Deaf Organisations in the West Midlands and to finalise the plans for the 2008 BSMHD Annual Conference. BSMHD Meetings are open to all members and are free to attend. If you would like to attend please contact Jonathan Isaac, [email protected] .

The meeting after that will be on 10 July 2008 in Cardiff.

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BSMHD Strategic Review

At their December meeting the BSMHD Trustee Board reviewed the progress being made against the objectives in the strategic plan for the Society agreed by the members in 2006. Those objectives are:

The Board of Trustees were satisfied that the activities of the Society are working towards meeting these objectives.

A new Board of Trustees will be elected at the AGM in May 2008. Information will be sent out to all members shortly. If you are interested in standing for election to the Board please contact Jonathan Isaac [email protected]

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Healthy Deaf Minds in Birmingham

We are holding a Healthy Deaf Minds meeting on 12 March 2008 at the Deaf Cultural Centre, Ladywood Road, Birmingham, B16 8SZ. Starting at 6.30pm and finishing at 9pm. Full communication support, tea & coffee are available. Entrance will be free for this initial meeting. The presentation will be about Living with Diabetes by Alison Veal. This is the third Healthy Deaf Minds meeting to be held outside London and the aim is for an organising committee to be established in Birmingham to make the meetings a regular event. We are very grateful to the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales who are supporting the expansion of the Healthy Deaf Minds project.

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Healthy Deaf Minds in London

The next meeting of the Healthy Deaf Minds London Group will be on Wednesday 6 February at the Small Meeting Room, Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, London (opposite Euston Station). In order to receive automatic Emails you only need to subscribe at: [email protected]. All meetings are on a Wednesday at Friends Meeting House, Euston. Starting at 6.30pm and finishing at 9pm. Full communication support, tea & coffee are available. Entrance fee is £5 to cover the cost of room hire.

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Interpreting in Mental Health Settings – A Practice Profession Approach

The four-day course is being arranged. It will be held in Manchester in June 2008. Further details to follow shortly.

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Ageing and Deaf Conference April 08

Message from the conference organisers: We regret to inform you that the organising committee of Spring 2 – Deafness and Aging decided to cancel the planned conference of April 2008. After our deadline (end of November) we did not receive enough abstracts to set together a programme of good quality. Although it is still early times, we also only had a few registrations which did not guarantee that we will financially break even. This is such an important theme that we do not want to present a conference which does not have enough substance. We want to thank those who sent us an abstract. It showed us that there are people who do excellent work in this field. We will not stop to maintain our interest for this issue and hope we will meat each other in the near future to share our ideas and research.

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Consultation Questionnaire on the National Advocacy Qualification

The idea to develop a unified approach to the provision of training for independent advocates initially arose from recent legislative changes, notably the introduction of the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) in the Mental Health Act 2007. Both Acts introduce the requirement for statutory appointed advocates to complete a recognized training course.

The Department of Health and Welsh Assembly Government therefore funded the Award Project in January 2007 to work with stakeholders to create a National Qualification in Independent Advocacy.

Through an initial consultation phase with the advocacy sector, the project has established a consensus to create a qualification which; is modular in structure; consists of 4 core units in generic advocacy at level 3; offers optional specialist units in Independent Mental Health Advocacy, Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy, Children’s advocacy, Adult advocacy and Advocacy management at level 4; and will take between 8 -11 taught days.

The Award project is running a consultative questionnaire until 31st Jan to hear from a wide range of stakeholders including commissioners, service users, advocacy employers, advocacy trainers and people who work with advocates.

This questionnaire is aimed at commissioners of advocacy services and has been designed to gather your views on the content and length of the proposed course and hear opinions on issues such as funding.

The questionnaire is at http://icn.csip.org.uk/nl/?ln=194_1_1 and will take approximately 5-8 mins to complete.

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DeafHealth – A collaborative study into the health of deaf people

What is DeafHealth? DeafHealth is the name of a research project which involves deaf people, clubs and associations across the country. The project will look at the health of deaf people (profoundly Deaf, deafened, hard of hearing) and compare this to the general population. This is the first time this has ever been done in the UK.

Why bother? We often come across stories of deaf people being poorly treated by the health service. Evidence from meetings, held over the past couple of years, has shown that many deaf people are not receiving basic health advice and face barriers accessing health services – becoming ill as a result.

We do not think deaf people should be more ill than hearing people. It is wrong and can be changed. What we need is the evidence to persuade the Government and health services that there is a problem.

What is going to happen? The research is in three stages.

Why should I take part? There are lots of reasons why this research is important. We hope all deaf people will want to take part and support it. We are confident that deaf people will want this project to succeed so they can get fair and equitable access to health services.

Local deaf organisations will be very important partners in the project: letting deaf people know what is happening. We will need to book interpreters from those organisations that have an interpreter agency. We also want to give local organisations the research findings from their area. These will be very useful when campaigning for improved services.

Want to get involved? We need to tell funders who our partners are. If you want to be involved then write to us saying you would like to be a partner.

How will the project be organised? The research will be done by a leading university. Their work will be supported by deaf organisations. An Advisory Group will make sure that the university is doing everything properly.

How will the project be funded? SignHealth will be paying for some of the work. We also hope to get funding from the Big Lottery and other sources.

Contact us to say you would like to be involved: DeafHealth Project, 5 Baring Road,
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, HP9 2NB. E-mail [email protected]

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St Mary’s Hospital Deaf Services

St Mary’s Hospital provides a complete care pathway of forensic services for deaf people with mental health needs. Service development has been based on actively promoting the uniqueness of Deaf culture and provides a totally Deaf centred service where all therapeutic services are delivered in British Sign Language. There is an expectation that all staff will use BSL, to the best of their ability. The employment of Deaf staff is vital to the development of the service, ensuring services remain focused around the developmental and communication needs of Deaf people.

Medium Secure Service. This service provides a step down from high secure provision in addition to referrals from the courts and prison service. St Mary’s Hospital has worked closely with the Northwest Specialised Commissioning Team and the Healthcare Commission to ensure the service reflects the Department of Health medium secure standards. Most patients will have an established forensic history requiring detention under conditions of medium security due to the significant risk in being treated in an open setting. All patients are subject a full pre admission assessment.

Low Secure Service. The low secure service provides transition from medium secure care and accepts referrals from the community, courts and prison service. All patients are detained under the Mental Health Act and will have forensic histories requiring detention in conditions of low security. Providing more emphasis on relational security the service is seen as a stepping stone to less restrictive care either in the community or an open hospital setting.

Open Rehabilitation Service. The Rehabilitation service provides beds in open conditions but where most patients are detained under the Mental Health Act. The provision is split between ward based bedrooms and self contained flats preparing patients for transition to independent living. There is a greater emphasis on community involvement, daily living skills and positive Deaf experiences.

Patients are actively involved in all aspects of their care. Community meetings are a key feature of the service helping patients’ plan their day to day activities and remain positively engaged in monitoring their progress towards independence. Referrals are accepted form other hospitals, community placements, the courts, prison service and internally as part of a patient’s care pathway journey.

For further details and to contact St Mary's Hospital go to www.stgeorgehealthgroup.co.uk

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National Deaf Service Conference

The National Deaf Service Conference on the 15 April, 2008 has to be postponed. This is because the date falls in the school Easter holidays. The new date for the conference is now the 9 May, 2008. For further details contact Herbert Klein [email protected]

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