Sensory Services – myth or reality Sensory Services – myth or reality? Liz Scott Gibson Scottish Council on Visual Impairment Annual Conference - 21st June 2011

About Deaf Action Registered charity – 1835 Deaf-led Board of Directors 90 full, part-time & sessional staff 20% deaf staff Work across Lothian, Fife, Tayside, Aberdeenshire, Highland, Argyll and Bute.

Our Aims Raise awareness of the needs and rights of deaf people Challenge discrimination Provide services to promote independence and quality of life

May work with those who are…………. Hard of hearing & deafened Deafblind BSL users Of all ages

BSL users typically born deaf or have become deaf early in life.(95% born to hearing parents) are not able to ‘decode’ speech through hearing aids alone have speech which is difficult to understand initially

often use BSL which is grammatically distinct from English may belong to a ‘Deaf Community’ and see themselves as a linguistic and cultural minority. a significant number will experience difficulties with reading & writing English, which is for many a second language.

SERVICES Social care: - Social work - Specialist equipment - Information/advice - Mental health service

Support services: - Care home/Slateford Green - Visiting/outreach support

Community development : - Health promotion - ‘Including you’ project for hard of hearing people Adult learning (SQA accredited courses) Youth activities/parent-toddler group/parenting course

Social Enterprise: - Training - Multi media translation - Communication support - Charity shop

Sports and social clubs Overseas Development work

Areas in common History Aims Value base Need for access to education, employment, information and services Need for communication Social exclusion

Areas in common Lack of trained specialist staff Lack of reliable data Poor understanding of sensory needs Cinderella service on the periphery

Sensory Services Sensing Progress 1997 West Lothian Sensory Resource Centre 2001 Sensory Impairment Action Plan 2003 Forth Valley Sensory Resource Centre 2005

2006 - ‘..sporadic service provision for sensory impaired people ….’ ‘Community care & mental health services for adults with a sensory impairment’ Scottish Executive 2006 2009 - Adam Ingram, Minister for Children & Early Years announced funding set aside to pilot Sensory Impairment Resource Centres

‘… to support the development of one stop shops for all sensory impairment needs…’ (SNP Manifesto 2011)

Sensory Services West Lothian Sensory Resource Centre Argyll & Bute Fife

Why? Community Care Outcomes Framework (2007) ‘Put services around people and not people through services’ ‘To shift the balance of care, supporting more people at home for longer’ ‘Users get the right support at the right time’

Why? Efficiencies - Core shared needs - Easier to manage Cost saving/value for money

Why? Demographics 80% of deaf/hard of hearing people are aged 60 or over 68% of those registered blind/partially sighted are over 75 20% increase over next 20 years

Current policies UN CRPD Equality Act 2010 Re-shaping care for older people (Change Fund) Re-ablement agenda Dementia Strategy Principles of Inclusive Communication 2011

Challenges Co-location and collaboration Fragmented services Protectionism

Challenges Lack of brand recognition Differing values Working culture Management style

Challenges Multi-skilled practitioners Team identity Holistic assessment processes Fit for purpose services Continued funding

Lack of specialist knowledge and experience (only 7 people in 13 authorities ‘fluent’ in BSL - SCoD 2009) Service user perceptions Lack of knowledge in commissioners/service planners

Chinese proverb ‘When the winds of change blow, some build walls, and some build windmills’