Dental Care Professionals (DCPs) in Wales have been offered courses to equip them with skills needed to communicate with patients with hearing difficulties.
The Dental Section of the Postgraduate School of Cardiff University commissioned Deafwise to deliver the three one-day courses that also counted towards CPD hours.
Deafwise is a nationwide deaf awareness training provider that helps healthcare workers throughout the UK understand and adapt to the practical needs of deaf people.
Each student received an insight into what it means to be deaf – through theory, demonstrations, workshops and role playing – and learned how to understand and remove the barriers to communication often experienced between hearing and deaf people.
Sian Evans, the dental nurse tutor said: ‘The training was important as more needed to be done to make employees deaf aware and, more importantly, it is vital that deaf patients are able to give consent and understand clearly what treatment is planned. It is no longer acceptable for deaf patients to experience a compromised service to their hearing counterparts because of communication issues.
‘The exercises were powerful, thought-provoking and really enabled participants to experience the challenges that the deaf community faces on a day-to-day basis. What is more, the trainers were deaf, which added to the experience and provided a level of credibility that couldn't be achieved with hearing trainers.'
By the end of the course, the DCPs were able to recognise different types of deafness, address, greet and take leave of a deaf sign user, understand the technologies used by deaf people, and spell the alphabet in British Sign Language.
Spencer Clark, co-founder of Deafwise, said: ‘Deafwise ensures patients with hearing difficulties have the opportunity to receive the same levels of care as those who are hearing and demonstrates how, by making a few minor changes, healthcare workers can make a real difference to their patients' experience.'
For more information about Deafwise please visit www.deafwise.co.uk.
