Resident Peter McGuire has recently moved into
Newlands care home, in Heaton Moor, Stockport. Being born deaf, he communicates using British Sign Language (BSL), so Colleagues wanted to learn some of the BSL in order to communicate with him better, and there was no delay in the training.
Melissa Johnson, Home Manager, took a proactive approach and spoke to the CEO of the independent charity for deaf services at Walthew House, which was founded by John Walthew in 1882 for people with a sight or hearing loss.
A training session was then organised in partnership with Walthew House, and twenty Colleagues from the 69-bed residential and nursing care home had the pleasure of having training on deaf awareness and BSL which they described as ‘Exceptional’.
Melissa said, “This is really important to us as we have learnt so much on how we can provide emotional and practical support to Peter just by being able to communicate with him effectively.”
Peter signed that he and other deaf people spend their lives adapting to being able to communicate with people who can hear. So now people at the home can adapt their communications skills to make an effort to care for him Peter better.
Melissa remarked, “This was a fantastic opportunity for Colleagues and myself, I think it should be something more homes across the UK take part in.”