Auslan communications cards developed by Expression Australia (formerly Vicdeaf) and Victoria’s Eastern Health network will improve access to mental health services for deaf and hard of hearing (HoH) patients.
The cards are being distributed across Eastern Health sites to help deaf and HoH patients feel reassured while waiting for loved ones, carers and Auslan interpreters when accessing services.
They do not replace an interpreter but complement use of interpreter services and allow staff to engage when access to an interpreter is delayed.
Eastern Health is the only public mental health service to contribute to the initiative.
Eastern Health project leads, senior psychiatric nurse Mr Harry Singh and disability liaison officer Ms Christina Georgiadis, said the cards were mental health specific, aiding communication between consumers and mental health clinicians.
“The cards will help our staff ask about communication preferences using text, images and video. They ask if they’re okay with a virtual interpreter and ask mental health questions,” Georgiadis said.
“These are the questions mental health nurses ask, which help them guide consumers to the safest place in the emergency department, clinic, or ward. It’s addressing a gap in communication that staff and consumers feel because of the language barrier.’’
Singh said an online version could also be accessed by QR code.
‘‘Often by the time they come to our units, they’re very distressed and can be experiencing an acute mental health episode,” he said. “Having better communication resources helps to build trust in our service and connect with our consumers.”
Ms Rebecca Adam, Expression Australia CEO, said Eastern Health was a key stakeholder in the Deaf Regional Health project, funded by an Information, Linkages and Capacity Building Grant in 2020. Eastern Health had been instrumental giving an insight into how the hospital system and interpreter booking system worked, and how access to healthcare for deaf and HoH patients could be improved.
Singh said the health service had gathered feedback from its consumer facing teams across mental health and emergency departments, noting the most important questions to help understand the mental health needs of patients.
“Expression Australia used our knowledge and expertise to translate our questions into Auslan and met with its deaf and hard of hearing mental health consumers to see what was most appropriate,” he said.
The cards are being delivered across Eastern Health whose services cover the largest geographical area (2,816 square kilometres) of any metropolitan health service in Victoria. It provides emergency, surgical, medical and general healthcare services including maternity, palliative care, mental health, drug and alcohol, residential care, community health and statewide specialist services.
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