Next BSMHD members meeting – Northampton, 12 May 2009 

The next BSMHD meeting will be held in Northampton on 12 May 2009 at St Andrew's Healthcare, Billing Road, Northampton, NN1 5DG. The meeting will be an opportunity to meet staff from the Health Services and Deaf Organisations in the East Midlands. BSMHD Meetings are open to all members and are free to attend. If you would like to attend please contact Jonathan Isaac, [email protected] .

 

BSMHD 2009 Annual Conference – London, 8 & 9 June 2009

The next BSMHD Annual Conference will be held in London on 8th & 9th June 2009 at the Royal Horticultural Society. 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: Research in Mental Health and Deafness; 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 (other formats, such as PowerPoint will not be considered) to [email protected] by 14 March 2009, please do not send PowerPoint presentations. The conference committee will select the most appropriate presentations and a decision will be made by 31 March 2009. Full papers will be required by 20 May 2009 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 Jonathan Isaac, the conference organiser, at [email protected] .

 

IAPT for Deaf People Conference – Birmingham, 26 March 2009

A one day conference for Mental Health Commissioners, IAPT Leads, Psychological Therapy Service Managers, Equality and Diversity Officers and all mental health professionals with responsibility for the provision of services for deaf people.

Thursday 26 March 2009, 10 am to 4.30 pm at the Deaf Cultural Centre, Ladywood Road, Birmingham, B16 8SZ

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies for Deaf People: Policy Context – Dr Ian McPherson, Director of NIMHE and Lead Director, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme, setting the scene and emphasising the importance of commissioning IAPT for the whole community.

Deaf People’s experiences of accessing therapy – Jonathan Rapoport, providing experiences of deaf sign language user issues when accessing NHS services including tips on being more deaf aware.

The need for Specialist Services – Hazel Flynn, Head of Advocacy and Counselling at SignHealth, explaining what works and what doesn’t for therapists working in sign language.

Making it happen – Jonathan Isaac, General Secretary of the British Society for Mental Health and Deafness outlining how IAPT programmes can incorporate access for deaf people, and giving an overview of current specialist service availability.

Workforce and Training: The challenges and opportunities for training Deaf Professionals – Pauline Latchem, Counsellor and Trainer, describing the barriers she faced as a deaf person accessing professional training and detailing the exciting new Counselling training course for deaf people.

The Doncaster Experience – Ben Jones, Primary Care Practitioner For The Deaf Community, Doncaster PCT IAPT Team looking at the approach to the provision of psychological therapies for deaf people at the Doncaster IAPT demonstration site.

A strategic approach to services for deaf people – Group discussions exploring the opportunities for partnership working and the strategic development of services.

Delegate Fee: £95. Full details on the BSMHD website at www.bsmhd.org.uk . To book your place or for further details contact: BSMHD, Westwood Park, London Road, Little Horkesley, Colchester, CO6 4BS. Tel/SMS: 07880 715427 Fax 07876 835857 Email: [email protected]

 

ESMHD SIG Meeting - Rome, 15-19 April 2009

It is with great pleasure that the European Society for Mental Health and Deafness (esmhd.org) announces that together with the Roberto Wirth Fund (www.robertowirthfund.net) an Italian non-profit organisation, will organize the next Special Interest Group (SIG) Meeting in Rome. The Special Interest
Group Meeting will take place in Rome from 15th to 19th of April of 2009. The aim of the Special Interest Group meeting of professionals working in clinical, medical, psychological or socially oriented settings for deaf children or adults and their families is an interactive process of sharing knowledge and discussions in depth. Scientific work and case histories are presented by all the participants. To participate in the Deaf Children and Families SIG, please send your abstract and/or expression of interest to [email protected] before March 13. 2009. To participate in the Mental Health for Adults and Families and Medical Issues SIG, please send your abstract or question before March 13th, 2009 to Ines Sleeboom-van Raaij e-mail: [email protected] or Beate Øhre e-mail: [email protected]

 

Deaf Child & Family Service Stakeholder's Meeting – London, 19 March 2009

The National Commissioning Group  has recently approved funding for a national Deaf Child & Family Service for England and plans on how to deliver this effectively are in the process of being developed. As part of this planning process, ideas so far will be presented to stakeholders (i.e., parents, carers, schools,  voluntary organisations,  local services etc) so that they may give feedback on what has already been achieved and hopefully plan together for what can be achieved in the future. If you are interested in attending please contact either Marie Toomey, Senior Administration Manager ([email protected])  020 8682 6925 or Sally Compton, Project Implementation Manager ([email protected])  0208 682 6947, to confirm  the name, title and contact details of who will be attending.  

 

4th World Congress on Mental Health and Deafness – Brisbane, 27-30 October 2009

Earlybird Registrations and Call for Papers are now open. Please visit http://mhd2009.org/ to register. For further information and assistance email [email protected]

 

Counselling Awareness Project in Scotland

In 2008 Scottish Council on Deafness (SCoD) was awarded funding from The Big Lottery Fund for the 2 year ‘Improving the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Deaf and Deafblind People in Scotland’ project. 

This project came about as a result of the 2004-2007 Counselling Training Project.  This project facilitated the training of deaf and Deafblind people in Counselling Skills and also raised awareness among mainstream counsellors of the counselling needs of deaf and deafblind people.  When this project came to an end it was found that there was still a lack of understanding among GPs of the counselling needs of deaf and deafblind people, and also a reluctance among deaf and deafblind people to seek support mainly due to their low understanding of counselling.

The Counselling Awareness Project, by raising awareness of counselling among deaf and deafblind people, aims to increase confidence and access to counselling, as well as raising awareness among GPs, mainstream counsellors and other health professionals, of the counselling needs of deaf and deafblind people.

Workshops have been arranged in different locations across Scotland for deaf and deafblind people to attend to find out more about counselling.  Along with counsellors who work with deaf and deafblind people, Barbra Wylie Project Coordinator will provide those who attend with such information as what counselling is, the reasons someone may need counselling, how counselling can be accessed and what happens during the counselling process.  Those who attend will also be given information and leaflets of local counselling support services.

SCoD only knows of 7 counsellors in Scotland who are either Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) users themselves or hearing, qualified to at least Level 2 BSL and deaf aware.  By holding two Counselling Training Pathways workshops, with the support of those who are counselling trainers, it is hoped that when given the full information those deaf and deafblind people who attend will think about training to become counsellors and in turn boost the number accessible to the rest of the deaf and deafblind population in Scotland.

Mainstream counsellors and GPs are also being contacted as part of this project.  With the help of the Community Health Partnerships GP practices have been sent information about the project along with a questionnaire to assess their accessibility to deaf and deafblind people.  They are also being asked about their procedures for referring deaf and deafblind people to counsellors, and if they refer to a mainstream service how they make sure it is accessible for their patient.  Counsellors received a similar questionnaire but this time they were asked what provisions they have in place to make their service accessible e.g. loop system, information in accessible format.  They were also asked if they had any plans to put provisions in place and if not what were the reasons.  Both GPs and counsellors were asked if they would be interested in attending deaf and deafblind awareness training and what they would like this training to focus on, related to their roles.  When the returned questionnaires have been analysed training will be set up for interested parties to attend.  Those who are not interested in training but perhaps have a particular query will be contacted for one to one advice and support.

Details of all workshops are updated on our website www.scod.org.uk. If you would like further information please contact Barbra Wylie, Project Coordinator, Scottish Council on Deafness, Central Chambers Suite 62, 93 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 6LD Tel/Text 0141 221 2991, Fax 0141 248 2479 Email [email protected]

Note: The articles that appear on this website are for information only – inclusion does not imply endorsement of the contents by BSMHD.