Feb 25 2008
A website by NHS in BSL language to aid deaf
Scotland, Feb 25: As an initiative to improve the health of deaf people an online pilot scheme is being introduced by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It is estimated that about 163,000 people in the region are deaf or have other hearing related disorder. About 1,000 people depend on British Sign Language (BSL) to gain information. As part of this project 30 video footages including deaf presenters who provide information using BSL, on topics ranging from how to find a GP to how to make a complaint. The video footages are made available at www.nhsggc.org.uk
Jac Ross, the health board’s corporate inequalities manager for disability opined that: “Conveying messages among deaf person through written English is creating communication barriers. In total it is creating negative impact on the health of deaf people. They are vulnerable to health related problems and don’t go for help as like the hearing people.”
He further added that: “A hearing person will notice the adverts advising about safe drinking levels but the deaf person cannot able to interpret the message. This initiative is an earnest attempt to fill that void in conveying the messages.”
While commenting on this Catriona Lafferty, health promotion worker with Deaf Connections said: “As a deaf person I cannot able to understand the messages that are written in English, converting the messages in BSL will help me a great deal and the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are making an effort to convert the website more user friendly for people suffering with hearing problem.”
Chief executive Gordon Chapman said: “Remoulding health information in BSL language will help a lot in empowering the deaf people and help them to take decisions that will have a direct impact on the quality of their lives.”
This project is backed by Scotland’s oldest charity for deaf people named Deaf Connections. Experts from this organisation translated the health information into BSL and were captured as video footages.
