Hosted by the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust Deaf Mental Health Team

Bristol, 13th Oct 2009,

Every month a regional supervision and support group meets in a Deaf Mental Health Team base in Bristol to discuss clinical and professional issues linked to working with Deaf people with mental health problems.  It became evident that a very high proportion of adult Deaf mental health service users we support had survived childhood sexual abuse, and clearly the toll of these experiences on mental health has been significant.  This anecdotal finding echoes research which suggests that sexual abuse effects up to 30-40% of Deaf people. 

In order to bring this topic to the wider attention of the right professionals and interested parties, a one day workshop took place on 13th October to explore services to Deaf survivors of CSA.  This event proved a valuable opportunity for those with an interest or involvement in this field (about 75 attendees in total) to come together to discuss the key issues e.g.

Do Deaf people have equal access to specialist counselling, therapy and support?
What can advocacy organisations offer Deaf people who need support?
What work is ongoing within Deaf organisations in this field e.g. NDCS, NSPCC, ?
Is there a role for greater awareness within the Deaf Community and who could take the lead in this area?
Do Deaf people have access to mainstream support services for survivors of CSA?
How can professionals help?

We focused our interest on survivors of CSA in particular, although it is clear that Deaf people are over represented as victims of other types of abuse e.g. physical, emotional, financial etc.  These area are all worthy of attention however in order we maintain focus, we looked at CSA. 

The event went well, with presentations in the morning from Sally Austen (National Deaf Services, Birmingham); Nick Horne and Will Hough (Alpha Hospital), Hazel Flynn and Frank Essery (SignHealth) and Natalie Pulfer (representing NDCS/NSPCC).  In the afternoon, four workshops took place looking at: raising awareness in the Deaf Community; the role of Police Liaison Officers for Deaf people; Counselling and Therapy and looking at the accessibility of services more generally.  Transcripts from the speech to text operator and presentations are on this website.

A discussion at the end of the day led to the suggestion of having a follow-up event which would focus now on action. 

For more information about future events or the Professional Supervision and Support Group, please contact the Deaf Mental Health Team (Bristol) Administrator:  [email protected]

 

Conference Speech to Text notes

Drama/Presentation 1: Sally Austen (Deaf Services, Birmingham) ‘Sexual Abuse and the Deaf Community - Overview’

Presentation 2: Natalie Pulfer (NSPCC/NDCS), ‘Safe’ Project

Presentation 3: Nick Horne and Will Hough (Alpha Hospitals),‘The Characteristics, Assessment and Treatment of Deaf Sex Offenders’

Presentation 4: Hazel Flynn (SignHealth) and Frank Essery, ‘The Role of Counselling and Advocacy for Deaf People who have Experienced CSA’

Workshop 1

Workshop 2