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Regional initiatives to improve provision for people with sensory loss include the Sensory Friendly Awareness Awards programme, the first to be piloted an rolled out in Wales and led by Hywel Dda University Health Board. The programme aims to raise awareness and understanding among health care providers of the needs of people with sensory loss and their carers and to respond to these appropriately. Its initial focus is on secondary wards.
Along with other LHBs across Wales, Hywel Dda University Health Board has recently introduced a sensory e-learning course, in conjunction with SENSE Cymru, to raise awareness of sensory impairment issues among staff. Service user feedback has been positive. One user commented:
“I was dreading going into hospital due to being virtually blind and I feared I would not be helped, however I could not have asked for any more help. They guided me, gave excellent verbal instruction and even told me when my meal had been placed in front of me, which has never happened to me before”
13.5. Gaps and Areas for Improvement
The biggest single challenge in relation to people with sensory loss is lack of diagnosis. This is also an issue where individuals are receiving other services such as residential and nursing care. Research undertaken in 2012 (Watson and Bamford, 2012) revealed that eye care and sight testing are both neglected in care homes for older people. A similar situation prevails for hearing loss (Echalier, 2012). Ensuring people are diagnosed with sensory loss as soon as possible can help them to remain independent for as long as possible and avoid other risks such as falls.
The following gaps and areas for further improvement are set out below against the core principles of the SSWB Act. These show that ensuring people with sensory loss have a voice and are in control of their disability is paramount.
Voice and Control
• Thereisaneedforgreaterawarenessofsensorylossanditsimpactsothatservice providers take specific needs into account and make their services more accessible. This is particularly important given that sensory loss often exists alongside other age-related conditions such as dementia and frailty. Information and advice needs to be provided in accessible formats. Wider services need to be made accessible so that people are not turned away inappropriately, or give up because, for example, they are unable to navigate the health and social care system. Thought also needs to be given to how people receive information, for example about hospital appointments. Difficulties in reading these can mean people with visual impairment missing out on other vital health care
West Wales Population Assessment March 2017 Sensory impairment