St Andrew's Healthcare is committed to providing specialist services that allow for more effective, individualised treatment plans.
As part of our strategic aims we will be developing a secure treatment pathway for men who are deaf and have mental health needs. The purpose built facility will be located in the grounds at Northampton as is estimated to be complete by December 2010. Much work has already begun around the charity as 50% of the staff employed at this facility will also be deaf. Staff have been undergoing BSL Level One training to ensure they are able to communicate with staff, adaptations to other communications are also being investigated.
We are also working with SignHealth as part of a Deaf Service Project Group to drive and direct the development of this service.
Service Philosophy
High-quality, safe care will be delivered in a culturally competent and linguistically appropriate way. The first language of the service is British Sign Language (BSL) and the service promotes the importance of appropriate communication together with respect for and understanding of Deaf culture. It is recognised that each patient and staff member brings their own unique skills and experiences to the service and is empowered to make appropriate use of these and to acquire new skills and strengths. The service learns from and adds to the existing evidence-base regarding interventions for this patient group.”
Care and Treatment
A multi-disciplinary team works with each patient to optimise their level of functioning, promote recovery and manage the risks they present.
All staff working in the service receive ongoing training in British Sign Language (BSL) as part of their job role and Deaf staff have been actively recruited to all positions within the service. Fully qualified, and specifically trained, BSL interpreters are embedded within the service and used for formal communications with Deaf patients/ staff if appropriate.
In addition to milieu, nursing, occupational, social, educational and pharmacological therapies, patients also receive specific individual and group cognitive-behaviourally based treatment interventions. Depending upon individual need these may include: psychoeducation, communication skills enhancement, relapse prevention, substance abuse prevention and offence specific interventions focused on reducing risk and criminogenic factors.”
Comprehensive care planning underpins the patient journey through the service and this also includes rigorous risk assessment and management.
Regular use of structured professional judgement risk assessment tools will help to ensure that each patient’s risks are fully identified, characterised and managed. The routine use of outcome measures will allow each individual patient’s progress to be monitored and optimised as well as providing feedback on service quality”.
Admission Criteria
Most of those suitable for this service will have had substantial hearing impairment since an early age. Many of these will use a sign language, such as British Sign Language (BSL), as their primary communication method and may also consider themselves as belonging to a distinct Deaf culture. However, the essential requirement is whether or not they are likely to benefit from the care provided by the service. As a guide, the presence of the following factors suggests that a person may be suitable for this service:
• Deaf men who are of working age
• Evidence of/suspected mental health problems (including mental illness, learning disability, acquired brain injury, autistic spectrum conditions and personality disorder)
• Evidence of risk to others such that they can only be managed in conditions of medium security
• Detained/eligible for detention under the Mental Health Act (MHA)
• Hearing impairment.
More information contact Dr Simon Gibbon on 01604 616729 (Typetalk 18001 01604 606729) or email sgibbon@standrew.co.uk