Housing sector challenge to champion deaf awareness
Housing providers could be missing out on ‘grey pounds’ if they
fail to meet the needs of the 50 per cent of 60 to 80 year olds who
have some hearing loss, according to a leading disability
specialist.
Action on Hearing Loss (previously RNID), the Housing Forum, and
Ian Williams are urging housing organisations to train staff with
specialist communication skills to make sure services meet the
diverse needs of ageing residents.
Representatives from the three organisations are urging housing
providers to look beyond the traditional diversity strands of
language, culture and religion, and consider making services more
accessible to deaf and blind people.
With an ageing population, the ten million people that are deaf
or have a hearing loss is set to rise. To deal with this increasing
customer base housing organisations are being urged to create
‘Access Champions’ who would gain specialist skills including
British Sign Language (BSL).
Jane Cordell, Head of Access Training and Consultancy at Action
on Hearing Loss, said: “Companies need to make sure that they are
giving customers full access to all their services and information.
They need to be aware of how they communicate with all customers to
ensure they provide the best possible customer service and that
they are not wasting time and money by carrying out the wrong
actions because of miscommunication.
“Larger organisations could consider appointing and training
specialist Access Champions, who could gain specialist skills
including British Sign Language (BSL). It is also useful to
familiarise yourself with available professional support such as
sign language interpreters, lipspeaker and note-takers who can
quickly and efficiently facilitate full communication with deaf
people.”
Ian Williams Ltd is already equipping its remote staff with
portable hearing loops and is training its staff on age and
disability to ensure that services are accessible customers with
mild or moderate hearing loss who wear hearing aids.
Development director Mike Turner explained: “Traditionally
diversity has focused on meeting the needs of a multi-cultural
society but diversity is much broader than this. The changing
demographic of customers means we need to adapt the design of our
services to meet their complex needs and we need to be flexible in
our approach.
“Solutions in an office environment are easier than in a mobile
environment for services like responsive repairs and this is where
thought needs to be given to the challenges we face. We need to
consider the needs of those with hearing and sight loss and train
our staff to be able to deal with their needs and we can do this in
partnership with organisations like Action on Hearing Loss.”
For more information on deaf-awareness training visit http://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/
You can obtain a copy of Ian Williams’ Diversity Handbook by
calling 01454 328 000.