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This paper aims to review the need for and development of specialist deaf secure mental health services.

The paper is a review article; it begins by giving a brief overview of deafness and the relationship between deafness, mental health problems and offending. Following this, relevant literature and Department of Health (DoH) guidance is summarised and a description of the current UK services is given.

In 2001, Young et al. highlighted the needs of deaf mentally disordered offenders and the requirement for specialist forensic mental health services for this group. Since then several DoH guidance documents have been published that, amongst other things, highlighted the need to develop deaf forensic mental health services. There have now been substantial service developments in this area but substantial gaps remain – most notably, a lack of specialist mental health provision for deaf prisoners.

The paper offers insights into the development and future of deaf forensic mental health services.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review of investigations into the specific disability of deafness in the field of sociology and other closely related fields.

After a pilot search using databases appropriate to social science research, we developed key search terms and, using an inductive approach, we identified major themes in the literature.

Our review shows that deafness has been investigated for a long time in sociology and other related fields, that there is a wide range of themes in scholarly work on the experiences of deaf communities and deaf people, and that conceptualizations of deafness and d/Deaf communities have changed over time. We organize this paper around six major themes we identified, and a few highlighted pieces of scholarship illustrate these themes along the way. We particularly focus on scholarship from the late 1960s through the early 1990s as emblematic of seismic shifts in studying deafness, although we do highlight little known nineteenth century work as well.

This paper captures the legacy of this past scholarship and reveals that deafness is a rich site of inquiry that can contribute to the field of sociology. It is also a valuable resource for any future sociological research into deafness, deaf people, and deaf communities. We conclude with a discussion of our findings, commentary on the extent to which previous scholarship on the sociology of deafness has or has not figured into current scholarship and suggestions for future research.

Prevalence of hearing impairment is quite common in people with learning disabilities (double jeopardy). However, this debilitating co‐morbidity remains largely undetected by carers and professionals due to presence of additional disabilities and complex clinical presentation in this population on the one hand, and lack of specialist hearing impairment service provision and difficulty in accessing generic audiology services on the other hand. This article aims to provide practical guidance on assessment and management of hearing impairment in people with learning disabilities by offering a narrative review of available literature on gaps in service delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the lived realities of d/Deaf prisoners in England and Wales, and to explore previous claims that they suffer disproportionately during their time in custody.

For the purposes of this study, a qualitative approach was taken. As part of this, 28 semi-structured interviews were carried out at seven adult male prisons in England with a sample of male hard of hearing/d/Deaf prisoners, and staff members who had worked with them. The interviews were recorded using a Dictaphone, and then transcribed as close to verbatim as possible. From this, the transcriptions were analysed using thematic analysis. In addition to interviews, observations were made at each establishment, and later recorded in a fieldwork journal.

Findings from the study showed that the way a d/Deaf person experiences prison depends strongly on the way in which they identify with their d/Deafness. However, it was also shown that there is little room for either deafness or Deafness in prison, with severely deaf and culturally and linguistically Deaf prisoners commonly experiencing the pains of imprisonment more severely than their hearing peers as a result of the Prison Service’s inability to accommodate such difference.

This study fused together the fields of Deaf Studies and Prison Studies in a way that had not been done before, considering d/Deafness in prison on both an audiological and cultural level. Moreover, excluding small-scale unpublished undergraduate dissertations, it was the first empirical study about d/Deaf prisoners in England and Wales to carry out face-to-face interviews with these prisoners. Finally, as the most in-depth research is yet to be carried out about these particular prisoners in England and Wales, a greater level of insight was provided than previously available.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the level of hearing loss in the population and describe the joint health and social care response in Hartlepool to the needs of this group of people.

The approach included a review of the literature, the application of national prevalence tables to local population estimates, and a review of the adequacy of current service provision available to people with a hearing loss.

More than 14,700 people out of a total population of 91,000 living in Hartlepool are estimated to have some degree of hearing loss. This compares with only 1,046 people registered with the adult social care team although 13,800 people were found to be registered with the local audiology department. The review found that a broad range of services was already in place across health and social care although some areas were identified for service improvement which are currently being addressed.

Drawing attention to the needs of a section of the community that is virtually invisible, this review served to highlight the scale of hearing loss prevalence in the population, to estimate the number of people with hearing loss in a local population using data that has been available for almost two decades (although not widely adopted), and demonstrates a unique cross‐sectoral approach to assessing and responding to the needs of people who have a loss of hearing.

This study investigated the relationship between the public library and the Deaf community in the United States and how this can be addressed from a library management perspective. A review of literature showed that while resources on this subject exist, no evidence could be found of any prior studies directly involving, or based on input from the Deaf themselves. Literature was also examined for resources identifying elements of deafness and Deaf culture which may relate to use of the public library, as well as ethical practices and procedures which are desirable when conducting research on Deaf participants. A nationwide survey of adult members of the American Deaf community was undertaken. The survey investigated the extent to which the Deaf utilize the public library and its associated services. It also identified factors which serve as impediments to their use. Survey results indicated that while the majority of respondents rarely visit a public library, interest in books and Deaf literature collections is high. Interestingly the public library is not seen as a good place to meet other Deaf people but is seen as a friendly environment. Identified barriers to use include difficulties in communicating with library staff, absence of interpreted events, and building design. Areas of potential further study were identified.

This article seeks to explore the assessment issues for Deaf people who have a co‐occurring mental health and substance use problem.

The paper draws on the expertise of a clinician who works with this client group, also using the available literature on this topic.

Dual diagnosis for Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) users has not been well researched. Deaf people may be unable to access some forms of assessment/treatment due to compromised cognition, understanding of concepts, and material not being accessible in an appropriate format. This paper discusses an approach which may be of particular use to assessing this minority group.

This paper considers an approach which may be of particular use to assessing this minority group. Although current techniques can be adapted such as cognitive‐behavioural integrated treatment (C‐BIT), there is a need for further research to evaluate and develop appropriate screening and assessment instruments for this client group.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the lack of literature and research on command hallucinations (CHs) in D/deaf persons and make suggestions for assessment, instrument development and research into CHs in D/deaf persons. This is important since it is known that hallucinations are more common in persons with hearing impairment and because CHs are known to be associated not only with distress, but also suicide and homicide.

Articles on hallucinations and CHs in D/deaf persons are discussed in the context of existing literature on CHs in hearing persons.

When compared with the literature on hearing persons it is clear that very little is known about the prevalence of CHs in D/deaf persons and that there is a significant lack of research into emotional and behavioural responses to CHs in D/deaf persons. There is no knowledge about the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for D/deaf persons who experience CHs. This is important since a CBT approach has been found to reduce risky compliance.

This paper makes recommendations for informed and evidence-based assessments of CHs in D/deaf persons; such assessments may have an important role in reducing risk and distress.

This is the first paper to review and consider CHs in D/deaf persons as a distinct clinical phenomenon. This paper makes recommendations for the assessment of D/deaf persons who experience CHs.

In this chapter, we explore the role of disability-based employee resource groups (ERG) in implementing large organizations' disability inclusion strategies and how pandemic responses shaped the workplace treatment and inclusion of disabled employees.

We conducted semi-structured interviews with disability-based ERG members and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professionals in large corporate settings. Then, we analyzed how pandemic-induced changes in the workplace impacted disability inclusion efforts and experiences of disabled employees.

Results from our study revealed that workplace disability inclusion responsibilities shifted to disability-based ERGs during the onset of the pandemic. Participants detailed how organizational disability inclusion practices and policies expanded through increased awareness among some employee bases and were de-prioritized to the point of erasure in other situations. Within the context of the pandemic, members of disability-based ERGs played an integral part in both enhancing visibility of disability and responding to instances of ableism in their respective organizations.

Findings provide context as to how shifting organizational contexts, such as pandemic related workplace policies, becomes disabling, and in turn illustrate the fluid nature of disability. By framing disability as an evolving (fluid) identity category and prioritizing the awareness of disabled perspectives, organizations can better support disabled employees in their future, overarching DEI strategies and approaches to workplace inclusion post-pandemic.