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COMMUNICAT
ION
ACCESS:
THE G
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QUALIZER
MA
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FOCUS OF PRESENTATION….
Addressing and identifying ways to meet the communication needs of individuals who are deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing in nursing homes and long term care facilities.
ДОБРО ПОЖАЛОВАТЬ
Мы заяц рад видеть вас здесь. Мы встретимся с вами в 2: 00 сегодня представить краткий ориентацию на повседневной жизни.
START WITH HUMOR
The story of Morris…..
COMMUNICATION GAPS
Residents lack information related to their medical care and participation is limited
Involvement in activities is impeded
Interaction with staff & residents is obstructed
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
More than 1 out of 10 Minnesotans has a hearing loss
1 out of 3 people over the age of 65 has a hearing loss
1 out of 2 people over the age of 75 has a hearing loss
BACKGROUND OF IDENTIFIED NEEDS
DHHS statewide staffConsumers who are deaf and
hardFrom family membersFrom social workers
INFORMATION FROM DHHS STAFF
DHHS staff had to intervene with a nursing home in Greater MN to ensure that the facility provided interpreter services. The DHHS office provided a loaner TTY.
INFORMATION FROM DHHS STAFF
Facilities in Northwestern MN were serving deaf and hard of hearing consumers without interpreters and ALDs until DHHS intervened.
INFORMATION FROM DHHS STAFF
In the St. Cloud area, staff have not visited a single nursing home where captions were displayed on televisions in the community rooms.
INFORMATION FROM DHHS STAFF
One particular nursing home in Central MN told a DHHS staff that it is the responsibility of the resident who is hard of hearing to provide the assistive listening device.
INFORMATION FROM DHHS STAFF
Assistance with hearing aid care and maintenance is extremely poor to non-existent (typically staff has received no formal, or informal training related to this topic).
INFORMATION FROM A CONSUMER
One deaf person was placed at a Metro LTC facility for 10 days and did not have an interpreter for any part of his stay.
INFORMATION FROM FAMILY MEMBERS
One daughter shared that her deaf father was refused access to a Greater Twin City Care Center solely because he was deaf. The facility admitted that they did not want to pay for interpreting services
INFORMATION FROM FAMILY MEMBERS
A daughter's mother was provided an interpreter for the intake process and for one health care conference. Her mother waived her rights to interpreters beyond this for fear of ramifications.
INFORMATION FROM SERVICE PROVIDERS
Hospital social workers have reported that when they call facilities for placement information for deaf patients, some of the facilities say that they will accept the patient, but will NOT provide interpreters.
OBSTACLES/CHALLENGES
ADA is an unfunded mandate! Many nursing homes/TCF
have financial struggles For signing deaf residents,
the accommodation is not necessarily a “one time fix”
OBSTACLES/CHALLENGES (CONT.)
Skill level & availability of interpreter
Regional sign variations Medical words that do not
have a specific sign, or the patient or interpreter may not be familiar with the sign
OBSTACLES/CHALLENGES (CONT.)
Providing ALDs for residents can be cost effective, but requires staffs attention
Late deafened individuals may rely on CART services.
OBSTACLES/CHALLENGES (CONT.)
Fear factor Don’t want to be a “bother” Deaf seniors (family members) often
do not “advocate” for access Family member can “interpret” Residents wants to live near family
OBSTACLES/CHALLENGES (CONT.)
Challenges of writing notes Multiple health issues Combined vision and hearing
loss Cognitive issues Immigrant/refugee
OBSTACLES/CHALLENGES (CONT.)
Staff/residents: Cultural differences
Staff/residents: Dialect challenges
Skill level of interpreter
One or a combination of any of the
aforementioned challenges results in significant COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
IT’S NOT ALL DOOM AND GLOOM!
There are effective measures that can be taken and some “one-time” costs that can help to open up communication access to a large percentage of residents with hearing loss.
EFFECTIVE STEPS Staff can learn and implement
effective communication strategies Captioning can be turned on
community TVs & resident’s TVs Staff should ask resident with
hearing loss how to best communicate with them
“ONE-TIME” COSTS
Purchase ALDs Put a white board in residents’
room with bold black markers Purchase portable laptop
computer with a swivel stand to type messages to residents
ONE-TIME COSTS (CONT.)
Picture Boards/Communicators Set up web cam or
videophone for residents (Video Relay Services)
Have a few staff enroll in a sign language class
INTERPRETER SERVICES
www.interpreterreferral.orgYou can either go through an
interpreter referral agency or call the independent interpreters
directly. Fees apply.
NO COST HELP
Amplified telephone, at no cost, through the TED Program (for resident): https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-4005-ENG
ALDs may be covered under CADI or Elderly waiver programs
TRAINING GOES A LONG WAY
FREE Training offered by DHHS (Find schedule at www.dhhsd.org)
FREE online training available through Hearing Loss Association of American at http://www.hearingloss.org/learn/hearingloss_vids.asp
FREE RESOURCES TO THE RESCUE!
Deaf Community Health Worker: [email protected]
Deaf Hospice Program: [email protected]
NEW & EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS
Grant dollars received to hire a ¾ Ombudsman
Development of a DVD on “Hearing Aid Care”
Speech Gear, Inc.
CONTACT INFORMATION
MARIE KOEHLER651/431-5964
END WITH SOME LEVITY
QUESTIONS AND ANSWER
General questions and comments related to hearing loss/other
FOR JOINING TODAY’S PRESENTATION
