New health resources for City's sign language users
1 in 5 of Stoke-on-Trent’s residents are deaf or hard of hearing. The charity dDeaflinks Staffordshire aims to support local deaf people to thrive in all aspects of their lives.
Health literacy has been identified as a real issue for people whose first language is sign language and the Tackling Health Inequalities grant funding is enabling dDeaflinks to share important health information throughout the local area.
Ddeaflinks worked with medical students on placement from Keele University to research and select nine health conditions they felt most important to highlight through the scope of the project.
This has resulted in the production of British Sign Language translated videos in conditions ranging from Alzheimers disease and Diabetes to Prostate and Breast cancer.
Downloadable posters which link to the videos have also been produced and will be distributed to health centres and GP practices throughout Stoke-on-Trent.
Laura Thirlwall, Manager at Ddeaflinks Staffordshire, said: “It is our hope that these nine videos will promote change and encourage NHS services to work towards ensuring all health information documents are accessible to the British Sign Language community that we strive to support.”
“Armed with these clear and informative resources, we will be attending local engagements events and offering Deaf Awareness tips and best practice to health care professionals working in our area.”