1. Reaching Sensory Impaired (Blind & Deaf) Communities – Research Project Marie Coughlin Cheshire & Merseyside 4 th January 2008

2. Prevalent Health Inequalities  Sensory Impaired (blind & deaf)  Learning disability  Black & racial minorities  Mental health  Physical disability  Low literacy

3. Research Study  Commissioned by national office, £24.5k  Look at the processes from invitation to receipt of completed FOBt kit

4. Disability Discrimination Act (1995)  DDA gives disabled people important rights of access to everyday services  Under DDA it is unlawful for service providers to treat disabled people less favourably  As a result, service providers now have to make ‘reasonable adjustments’  Take up of preventative healthcare amongst disabled people is low (Disability Rights Commission, 2007)

5. Vision Impairment  Approximately 300,000 people in England are registered blind or partially sighted (DoH, 2003)  Up to another 75,000 who are eligible are not registered (DoH, 2003)  Approximately 2 million people in UK self- define as having sight problems (Government Disability Survey, 1997)  85% are aged 65 and over (Government Disability Survey, 1997 )

6. Hearing Impairment  Approximately 213,000 people in England are registered deaf or hard of hearing (DoH, 2004)  Approximately 9 million people in UK self- define as having hearing problems (RNID, 2004)  75% of these people are aged 60 and over (RNID, 2004)

7. Additional Disabilities  Some suffer from both impairments  Low literacy levels

8. Some of the Barriers  Information not usually developed or produced in appropriate formats  Staff not adequately prepared or trained to interact with these groups  Buildings, equipment and facilities not organised with their needs in mind  Communication is biggest barrier  These issues likely to be important influencing factors on screening uptake

9. Aims & Objectives  Collaborative working across Cheshire & Merseyside with local sensory impaired groups  Identify barriers for participation  Make recommendations for strategies which would address barriers  Peer reviewed publication

10. Approach  Steering group with representation from: –Health promotion –Primary care –Public health –Patient & carer –Blind & deaf societies –RNIB –RNID –Equality & diversity –University

11. Methodology & Evaluation  In partnership with University of Chester, Centre for Public Health Research  Literature review  Data collection via focus groups/interviews  Provision of key recommendations

12. Timescales  Establish steering group : June 2007  Literature review : August 2007  Focus groups/interview : Sep - Dec 2007  Analysis : Jan – Mar 2008  Production of paper(s) : April 2008

13. Questions