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“Mental Health Services for Deaf People – No longer an option?” BSMHD 2006 Annual Conference Newcastle
Last chance to book your place!
The BSMHD 2006 Annual Conference and AGM will include presentations from healthcare and voluntary organisations involved in collaborative approaches to developing mental health services for deaf people nationally and in the North East.
Other presentations include: The psychosocial influences affecting the length of hospital stay of Deaf mental health service users - Neil Patterson and Di Baines; Deafblindness and Mental Health: The mental health needs of adults with dual sensory impairment - Sarah Bodsworth, Isabel C.H. Clare, and Christine Hardy; ‘Art Therapy, What’s For’ - Rubbena Aurangzeb-Tariq, Rachel Coppage and Ailsa McGilp; ‘Work hard, improve, better, leave’? What happens when service users don’t change? - Diane Walsh and Sue O’Rourke; BME Deaf People’s Families & Communities: The Key - Penny Beschizza; Developing a Deaf Studies Curriculum for deaf children in United Kingdom - Robin Ash.
There will also be a small exhibition attached to the conference. For information about booking exhibition space or registering as a delegate please contact Jenny Hitchen, the conference organiser, at [email protected]
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“Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?” – Interpreting in Mental Health Settings Conference
BSMHD are delighted to be hosting this important event which will explore the issues relating to the use of BSL/English Interpreters in Mental Health Settings. Presentations will include: Dr Alison Gray, Consultant Psychiatrist, on the psychiatric assessment of Deaf clients. Dr Gray will outline psychiatric assessment of psychotic people in general, and any specific strategies, techniques or difficulties she has identified with Deaf clients. There will be 15 minutes for questions and discussion. Dr Sara Rhys Jones, Clinical Psychologist, will talk about working with Interpreters as a deaf clinician. This will identify issues of interpretation between the Deaf and hearing person from another direction. There will be 15 minutes for questions and discussion. Dr Jim Cromwell, Chartered Clinical Psychologist, will present on the technical demands of formal clinical testing. Formal assessment procedures are often based on rigid English statements, and departure into BSL compromises the validity and reliability of those methods This session will introduce these difficulties. Julie Watkins, British Sign Language Interpreter, on working as an interpreter in mental health settings, particularly assessment of psychosis. Ms Watkins will discuss personal experiences of interpreting in these settings, and what an interpreter needs in order to be effective. Conference Conclusion. Dr Jim Cromwell, Conference Chair, will lead a discussion on the themes generated in the earlier part of the day. All delegates will be invited to take part. The aim of the discussion will be for clinicians and interpreters to understand the needs and issues relating to the other’s professions in these interactions, and to converge upon a consensus for good practice and ideal working. It is hoped that we may be able to arrange for input into the conference programme from a deaf client on their experience of assessments using a BSL Interpreter.
There will also be a small exhibition attached to the conference. For information about booking exhibition space or registering as a delegate please contact Jenny Hitchen, the conference organiser, at [email protected]
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Next BSMHD meeting – Hampshire July 2006
The next BSMHD meeting will be held in Hampshire on 7 July 2006. The meeting will be an opportunity to meet staff from the Health Services and Deaf Organisations in the South East of England. 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 autumn meeting will be held in Leeds in September. Further details will be available in the next Newsletter.
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The following article appeared on 10 May 2006 in mentalhealth today
Deaf people are still battling for equal access to mental health services - Liz Main reports
When I became depressed, the idea of trying to explain this to my GP without an interpreter meant I put it off for ages. When I finally decided to seek help, my GP referred me to a counsellor who didn’t understand my disability and who couldn’t sign. ‘I’ve had to take a step back and try to deal with my depression on my own. I wonder whether there was any point seeking help in the first place.’
This deaf woman’s account of trying to get help for a mental health problem is all too familiar to Sign, The national society for mental health and deafness. Set up in 1986, Sign has battled for years for better services for deaf people with mental health problems and provision of sign language interpreting, so they can at least communicate their distress to those supposed to help them.
It is estimated that about 40% of the nine million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives - higher than in the general population, where the rate is one in four. Yet diagnosis and referral rates are poor, says Jonathan Isaac, general secretary of the British Society for Mental Health and Deafness (BSMHD). All too often people don’t get help when they first go to their GP and their condition then deteriorates: ‘One of the significant issues for deaf people with mental health problems is that GPs just aren’t equipped to deal with the situation. If hearing people go along to the GP, they might be sent to counselling or given antidepressants. For deaf people it doesn’t happen. The GP can’t deal with someone in sign language, he or she doesn’t know a counsellor with sign language, so the person gets referred to specialist services and gets institutionalised,’ he says.
In March 2005 the Department of Health issued guidance for primary care trusts (PCTs) on mental health service provision for deaf people. Mental Health and Deafness: Towards Equity and Access makes 26 recommendations for improving mental health service provision for deaf people and came with a promise of £2.5 million annual funding from the DH to be distributed nationally among all 303 PCTs in England and Wales [sic]. A national panel comprising the BSMHD and representatives other deaf voluntary organisations, the DH, NIMHE/CSIP, the NHS and users was set up to oversee the implementation. Subsequently the panel agreed with the DH that £1.2 million of the 2005/06 funding would be held back from the PCT allocation for national initiatives. But the deaf charities say PCTs have been spending their share of the money to pay off financial deficits and fund other, non-deaf services. The Department of Health then clawed back half the £1.2 million for 2005/06, leaving only £650,00 to fund half the planned projects.
‘We have no idea yet what is happening in 2006/07 but it has been indicated that probably the funding will again go out to PCTs, this time not even badged, just as part of their total funding and rather unidentifiable,’ says Jonathan Isaac.
‘The sad thing is that the money wasn’t ring-fenced,’ says Steve Powell, chief executive of Sign. ‘We argued strongly that such a small amount of money would get lost within the system. PCTs have got major deficits. To try to get them to give this any importance has been extremely hard work. Deaf people haven’t been able to put pressure on. If you can’t communicate, you can’t put pressure on. You can’t pick up the phone and speak to the PCT chief executive. Ring fencing the money would have given deaf people the tool to enforce it.’
There is little indication that the £3 million distributed so far to PCTs in 2004/05 and 2005/06 has been used to implement the Towards Equity and Access recommendations. In September last year the panel reviewed progress. It found that only in the north east region had PCTs done any work towards implementing a local needs assessment the first recommendation. Implementation of deaf awareness training for primary care and hospital staff - the second recommendation - was similarly patchy, and only a few PCTs had bought the SignHealth interpretation software - recommendation four. The recommendation that specialist CPNs should be appointed in areas with high populations of deaf people has produced one part-time worker in the Newcastle area, and ‘plans for one’ in Rotherham. Action on the other recommendations is similarly absent or patchy, Isaac says. Like Powell, he thinks the government should have set specific targets and deadlines. ‘There’s a disconnection between the report and implementation. There’s no compulsion, just a request to PCTs that it should happen.’ The government’s line is that the DH does not issue instructions to PCTs as to how to spend their funding. The charities argue that, because there won’t be very many deaf people with mental health problems in any one PCT catchment area, they are unlikely to be motivated to act on the guidance. They want to see PCTs group together regionally to develop services covering a wider area. Sign has seconded two officers to the Department of Health, one deaf, the other hearing, to work with PCTs and deaf communities to turn the Towards Equity and Access recommendations into action, but so far they have had little success. Powell is now also working fulltime on its implementation, having delegated his other chief executive responsibilities. Sign wants to establish a contact in every PCT, but Powell says that at times the work can be ‘soul destroying’: even when one person in a PCT is enthusiastic - often because they have a friend or family member who is deaf or hearing impaired – they find it hard to bring their colleagues on board. The implementation officers say local pressure is the only answer to this and, in partnership with local deaf organisations, aim to recruit a representative from the deaf community in every PCT.
Powell says deaf organisations have one major card up their sleeve: the implementation in December of a duty on public services to provide equality of opportunity to people with disabilities, meaning individuals with disabilities must have access to the same services as any other person. Sign is drafting a scheme for PCTs that will help them meet this duty. Last year it also published with the Mental Health Foundation a charter of rights for deaf people and a service providers guide for NHS and voluntary sector services, setting out the basic rights of deaf people when accessing mental health services and how services can meet their obligations to users.
There are other incentives for GPs, Powell argues. ‘By improving access for deaf people, you will get not only better health care, but cost savings. Missed appointments by deaf people cost £20 million a year.’ Many such improvements - better signage and using technology to inform and remind people of appointments and ensure they are understood - are not expensive and, Powell points out, will improve services for all patients, not just deaf people.
SignHealth
It can take up to two days to book a sign language interpreter, which is not much use to a deaf patient in need of an urgent health care appointment. A 2004 survey by the RNID found that less than 20% of GPs and hospital health professionals used an interpreting service. Instead, family members, often children, are used as informal interpreters and more that 20% of deaf people left meetings with their GP unsure of what was wrong with them. More than 10% said they avoided going to the doctor because of communication problems.
To overcome the need for quick access to interpreting services Sign has developed SignHealth, a computer programme with actors signing in British Sign Language (BSL) common questions that GPs might need to ask a deaf patient (see photo). The questions relate to a wide range of health conditions, including mental health, and there is a separate section for reception staff. The programme also provides translations in 12 spoken languages, widening its use beyond the deaf community. Sign wants PCTs to buy SignHealth for all GP practices in their area, but so far take up has been disappointing. Most interest has come from PCTs in London. It costs an individual GP practice just £100 a year. Steve Powell (while stressing that SignHealth is not a replacement for an interpreter) says the minimum cost for an interpreter is £50 a session, plus travel expenses, and Language Line, a comparable translation service for people who don’t speak English, costs £2.50 a minute. GPs can also gain points for improving access and get extra funding through the GP contract, he says.
Lewisham PCT in London has bought SignHealth for all its GP surgeries. Tony Shreeves, SignHealth co-ordinator at the PCT and responsible for promoting it to GPs, practice staff and health visitors, says everyone who has seen a demonstration has been enthusiastic. ‘You don’t need training, you just have to show its capabilities. From our perspective, it’s not just great for use with deaf people. Now they’ve included interpreting for other languages it cuts the cost of having an interpreter, which is very high.’
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Towards Equity and Access Implementation Panel
The TEA Panel met on 23 March. The minutes from the meeting will be available from the BSMHD website shortly. The National Initiatives being funded by the Department of Health will be giving an update on the progress they have made at the BSMHD Conference in Newcastle.
If you are able to assist the Implementation Officers in their work please contact Herbert Klein or Lloyd Wint, The Bridge, Falcon Mews, 46 Oakmead Road, London SW12 9SJ.
[email protected] or [email protected] Fax 020 8772 3242 Voice 020 8772 3225 Textphone 020 8772 3241
The agenda and minutes and supporting papers of the TEA Panel meetings are available on the BSMHD website at www.bsmhd.org.uk/teaimp.htm . The next meeting of the panel is on Tuesday 16 May 2006.
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New standards for Communication Agencies
Communication agencies across the UK have been involved in developing new standards for all agencies that provide LSP the collective name given to the professionals who deliver a communication support service, such as BSL/English interpreters, Lipspeakers, Speech to Text Reporters and Electronic Notetakers. The standards represent a set of working practices that all agencies should aim to implement, so when people who require communication support book an LSP through an agency, they know what level of service to expect. To mark the launch of the new standards, the Agency Steering Group have produced a DVD presented in British Sign Language and subtitles. This outlines the standards and explains to consumers what they should expect from a Communication Agency. The DVD will be available from mid May 2006. If you would like to order a copy, please contact ASG by emailing [email protected]
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European Society of Mental Health and Deafness Special Interest Group (SIG) - PUBLIC HEALTH
La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain - 20th – 22th September, 2006
The SIG Public Health is the “youngest” of the ESMHD SIGs. Our first meeting was in Austria in 2004 and the second in 2005 in South Africa. Our vision is equal access to health information, health education, health care and preventive health programs for Deaf people in their language of choice. The aims of the Public Health SIG are; to bring together people with experience, special interest or concerns in physical/general health services for Deaf people in a constructive discussion forum and for exchanging views/experiences and; to provide a forum, to network trans-nationally, share mutual concerns, exchange good practice and develop more effective ways of making the full range of health services accessible to Deaf people in their own language of choice.
All SIG meetings will take place simultaneously in the University of La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain). The SIG Public Health will be an one-day meeting on Thursday, 21 th September 2006. This will give the participants the opportunity to also attend the SIG Adults and Families on the second day (with the approval of Ines Sleeboom). All participants are encouraged to make contributions by presenting new health projects (e.g. in the field of health education or preventive health), results of research, new ideas... The presentations are presented in sessions under specific themes/questions and are followed by group discussions.
Call for papers - We invite you to send an abstract (300 words max.) on any of the suggested themes (or other related ones) before 31st May 2006 to [email protected]. It is also possible to take part in the SIG Public Health without a presentation. The meeting will be carried out in English. Participants requiring interpretation (for sign language or other languages) must bring along their own interpreters (we are not be able to provide interpreting services). We would recommend all participants who travel by plane to fly to the airport in the north of Tenerife (called “Los Rodeos”). Participants have to make their own transport and accommodation arrangements.
Dr Johannes Fellinger
Chairperson of SIG Public Health
Institute of sensory and language neurology
Health Centre for the Deaf
Hospital of St. John of God Linz/Austria
For further information or questions please contact
Alexandra Mayer-Weinreich, [email protected][email protected]
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2nd International workshop on sign language - Interpreting in mental health and Deafness settings
The EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR MENTAL HEALTH & DEAFNESS and the SPANISH SOCIETY FOR MENTAL HEALTH & DEAFNESS, are proud to invite experienced sign language interpreters to Madrid on the 01/06 to 03/06 2006. A maximum of ten European qualified and/or experienced sign language interpreters are invited to join ten of their Spanish co-workers for the second international workshop on sign language interpreting in mental health settings. This unique opportunity is the result of collaboration between the Spanish Society for Mental Health and Deafness, the European Society for Mental Health and Deafness, the Autonomous University of Madrid School of Psychology and the University of Rochester School of Medicine USA. The working language will be English with spoken language translation between the Spanish and English to assist group interaction. The European delegates or their sponsors are only asked to contribute 250 EURO each towards the cost of the workshop. In addition delegates or their sponsors will meet travel and accommodation costs. The organisers of the Workshop will provide the venue and will help delegates to find suitable accommodation in the beautiful city of Madrid.Those wishing to be considered for this unique opportunity should complete the application form and forward it to the workshop co-ordinator as soon as possible. The Spanish Society for Mental Health and deafness and the European Society for Mental Health and Deafness will award successful delegates certificates of attendance.
For further details contact:
Renata Sarmento
Centro de Psicología Aplicada
Facultad de Psicología. UAM.
Campus Cantoblanco
C/Ivan Pavlov, 6
Madrid 28049
Spain.
Telephone: 00 34 91 497 8687
Fax: 00 34 91 497 5215
e-mail: [email protected][email protected]
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Suicide in the deaf community: A literature review
This study is a systematic literature review into suicide in the deaf community and is a collaborative project between the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (Inquiry) and SIGN (National Society for Mental Health and Deafness). It is based at the Centre for Suicide Prevention, Williamson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, M13 9PL, and is funded by the Big Lottery.
Why is this study being carried out? Although there is a large literature citing the rates and risk factors for suicide, both in the general and mental health population, the literature on suicide in the Deaf Community is less comprehensive. A systematic review of the existing literature is required in the first instance, to identify methodologies for investigating suicide in this population, with the aim of informing future studies.
What are the aims of the study? The study will focus on three specific areas: To define and describe the characteristics of sub-groups within the deaf community in which suicide has been investigated (e.g. those with acquired deafness and those who are deaf from birth). To identify methodological approaches that have been used to investigate suicide in the deaf population (e.g. epidemiological, survey, autopsy). To identify limitations of previous studies.
What do the SIGN/Inquiry team need from you? We need your help in identifying literature that may not show up in academic database searches (e.g. unpublished report, studies, or other similar documents). We would be very grateful if you could notify us with any literature that you may be aware of that could help to inform this study.
Please contact: Mr. Oliver Turner ([email protected])
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The next edition of the BSMHD Newsletter will be sent out in July 2006. The deadline for sending articles is 1 July 2006. Please send by email to: [email protected]
Contact us
British Society for Mental Health & Deafness
Westwood Park, London Road, Little Horkesley, Colchester, CO6 4BS.
Telephone 01206 274075
Text 01206 274076
Fax 01206 274077
Or send us an Email [email protected]
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