Breaking down barriers in Deaf patient care

This year, Deaf Awareness Week is built around the theme of ‘Beyond Silence’, all about promoting understanding and inclusivity and breaking down barriers for those with hearing loss. When it comes to healthcare, it’s something the School has long been a part of, thanks to a unique and fruitful partnership with Merseyside Society for Deaf People (MSDP).

Liverpool student doctors have been benefiting from bespoke deaf awareness training for almost 20 years. Workshops run by expert MSDP facilitators are now firmly integrated into the medical course and offer plenty of opportunity for interactive practice.

 

Dr Isobel Jenkins, Communication for Clinical Practice Lecturer, explains how session activities are designed to raise awareness of the barriers encountered by deaf patients and the skills and services that can help overcome these barriers in practice.

Students have the chance to practise role plays with and without the support of BSL interpreters and to reflect on communication practice when communicating with Deaf and Hard of Hearing patients, including an awareness of their own limitations and the importance of interpreters.

 

MSDP’s Ian Cockburn is a regular workshop facilitator, guiding students through a range of activities.  

We have listening activities that give students the opportunity to empathise with the Deaf, hard of hearing or deafened person. We look at categories of deafness and the different communication methods used by different Deaf people. We do lip reading activities and watch a GP having a consultation with a Deaf person, a good clip and a not so good clip, which gives information on how you should communicate with a Deaf person. At the end of the session, students get involved in a role play situation so they can put everything they’ve learned into practice.

 

Dr Jenkins is delighted with the impact of the training, with students reporting a noticeable increase in confidence of their communication skills following the workshop.

It’s wonderful to read through the students’ comments on the tools and skills they have learnt to aid their communication, and the appreciation of the workshop being delivered by a facilitator who is Deaf and who is able to share their story and perspective. One student recently commented, ‘Having the Deaf Awareness workshop delivered by people who are Deaf is very important. Who else understands better what it is like?’

 

Indeed, it is this novel approach to experiential learning that really cements the message with students. Dr Chris Huntley, Communication for Clinical Practice Lecturer, shares,

The whole session is run in British Sign Language (BSL), which is  unique and quite special. It really gives students that double hit of learning. So, they're learning about deafness and Deaf people and, at the same time, learning about communicating with Deaf people as part of the session they're doing anyway. It really does excite their imaginations, as well as making them feel a bit more prepared if they encounter a Deaf person in practice.

Mr Ian Cockburn agrees that getting to interact with a Deaf person is a key advantage for the students.

They get to see first-hand the difficulties in communicating with Deaf people as well as the barriers that Deaf people face in society. It's nice to have a real-life Deaf person there, who's part of the Deaf community, who can bring some Deaf culture to give students that information.

 

Student Doctor Ayn Panesa enjoyed learning useful gestures and phrases in sign language to communicate.

I also found it interesting to think about the barriers that could be involved in GP practice and healthcare and what we could do to make it better for the patients.

Student Doctor Flora Dell'Accio agrees.

I learnt to really use your facial expressions and gestures where possible and, if you are speaking with an interpreter, to keep your eye contact with the patient and just allow the interpreter to do the interpreting on the side. That way you can build a rapport and the Deaf person can communicate with you better as well. In the medical profession, you might just be communicating whether someone needs some blood tests, but you could also be breaking quite bad news or having to discuss quite sensitive topics. Being able to communicate to the best of our ability, including gestures and using bits of BSL, is really important to do our job better and make the patient feel better in themselves.

Discover more 

• Learn more about online and in-person Deaf Awareness training opportunities provided by Merseyside Society for Deaf People initiatives on their website or get in touch with the team at trainingone@msdp.org.   

• See how Equality, Diversity and Inclusion manifests in both the curriculum and school community at Liverpool on our EDI webpage.

• Head to the Deafness Resource Centre for ideas, materials and inspiration on ways in which you can support deaf awareness this week and beyond.