Reaching Sensory Impaired (Blind & Deaf) Communities – Research Findings Lynn Tobin Cheshire & Merseyside August 2008

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

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

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)

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 )

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)

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

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

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

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

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

Key Findings  Engage support organisations to ensure wider dissemination of information  Consider training ambassadors within deaf community  Screening staff to work closely with staff in health care, social services & voluntary sector  Establish text phone and helpline  Target isolated individuals to promote screening

Key Findings  Simplify language used  Include more pictures and diagrams  Consider a re-design of the test kit  Provide participants with larger envelopes  Provide participants with sampling pots

Next Steps  National office to review research findings  Develop any strategies from the research findings  Develop research proposal to test out any such strategies

Questions