Nicholas’ service update

It really does feel like summer is here, and at long last the sun seems to be shining – across most of the UK!

Please find below my round up from the Peer Support Team for July – do keep in mind the figures are up to the 19^th July only. 

I hope you enjoy our updates. As always, if you have any questions drop an email to myself or Alison.

Helpdesk 

So far this month, Helpdesk responders have resolved 18 cases. This is almost as many as the 20 cases completed in the whole of June. Twelve volunteer responders have been active.

The majority of enquiries (7/18) have been around technology. Of course, behind a technology enquiry there is a person doing their best to manage, until ultimately their difficulties lead them to request support. In the example below, the enquirer’s request comes from disappointment of trying multiple solutions.

“I find that hearing someone in front of me speaking against a noisy background I can hear much better by cupping my hands behind my ears in the shape of a bowl, call it the ear trumpet effect. So, I ask in all seriousness if there are such things as modern, lightweight, plastic ear trumpets to clip on the ear?”  

This is not from someone who has recently had a change in their hearing either..  

“I do have quite modern NHS hearing aids but I find them ineffective in the situations where most needed, such as in a crowd of people with talking all around.” 

 Equally, they have embraced assistive listening devices too.. 

“I also have some Bluetooth earbuds which link to a microphone app but their limitations are very similar, magnifying ambient sounds with little directionality into the microphone.” 

And then some important additional information, right at the end… 

“I have not had a hearing check-up for about three years. Should I be getting a yearly check-up at my age, 84 years?” 

As you can see our Helpdesk Responders need to be able to craft a response that often includes multiple parts of additional information, as well as being encouraging and positive. Thank you to them for dealing so skilfully and patiently with the often complex issues that come in. 

Do keep an eye on the Teams Helpdesk channel as additional information is posted on there. This is for any peer support volunteer to respond to. 

In August, we will begin a review of our Helpdesk service. So, if you are a responder, look out for communications seeking your views on the responder role in the coming weeks. 

Community Days 

We had three community days in July – Exeter, Manchester and Edinburgh – and had some great feedback. These days are excellent opportunities for a blend of social contact and exploring issues connected with managing a hearing dog and your hearing.  

“Seven attendees at the day and three lovely Labs. One of the people there attended a LinkUp support group a couple of months ago and was really happy with it. She said she was glad she went as it helped her so much which was lovely to hear. I helped a couple of people with their phones and Live Transcribe, also chatted about all our Hearing Link Services.” Keith in Manchester. 

“I spent a very long time sitting with one gentleman in particular, who is really struggling with his hearing loss. Mainly just listening, then answering his many questions. He has been avoiding people, to the extent of asking if he could learn sign language or lipreading from a book. I strongly recommended lipreading classes, to not only learn more, but also to meet other people and to learn coping strategies etc. Also advised him to investigate equipment that can help him feel safe at home – at present he is scared to stay in his own home if his wife is away.” Catherine in Edinburgh. 

Many thanks to all the peer support volunteers, please continue to post your comments and photos in the Teams Community Day channel! 

As a reminder, here are the dates for August and September. Drop Alison a line if you are interested in attending, and do look out for the dates to the end of year coming soon too! 

LinkUp support group 

July’s LinkUp in Cardiff has just taken place as we are writing this newsletter, so we will update you in our next issue.

Many thanks to Martin, Emmanuelle, Julia and Denis for volunteering at June’s LinkUp at The Grange. An excellent group of 18 attendees enrolled for a weekend of support and making connections. 

Immediate one-word feedback included:  

Thank you also to everyone who responded to June’s request to help publicise the LinkUp support groups in your local area. Do keep this up, only you know the best places to go locally and where people will see the poster.  

We have also contacted a variety of services and businesses such as NHS and independent audiologists, and sensory support teams, who can help us as well. 

We had this encouragement back from the Audiology Lead and Advanced Audiology Practitioner at one of the Cardiff hospitals. 

“Thanks for sharing this. I’ve copied in my colleagues and peers and department leads from other Welsh NHS Audiology services for them to share to their teams.  

“I had a patient who went to the Cardiff LinkUp support group last year, with their husband. They both found it incredibly helpful and emotionally supportive.” 

Helpful Hours 

Peer support volunteers Emmanuelle and Helen took eight attendees through the ’audiology’ Helpful Hour in June.

Special thanks to Helen who stepped into the co-presenter’s role for the first time with care and expertise.

In this role the volunteer sets out why the topic is so important, and they really set the tone for the session. The co-presenter also and needs to be focussed on the incoming comments and facilitates the Q + A session

Helen’s next step is to present the July session at the end of the month…! 

Many thanks to everyone who submitted something to the survey for our next planned Helpful Hour topic of navigating medical appointments in a variety of settings.  

In all, we’ve received over 30 submissions, with something for each segment of GPs, Outpatients, Inpatients, Optician’s, Dentist’s and A+E. 

A lot of common experiences across the country, as well as some specific points too. 

“Medical staff need to consider those with hearing loss. Not calling from a distance and speaking clearly. Also know and comply with the NHS England Accessible Information Standard”. 

“I remember the theatre nurse saying she would only remove my hearing aids after the anaesthetist had spoken to me. I found them already back in when I came round so that I would hear the recovery nurse waking me up! Maybe this is standard practice?” 

All really useful information, and a good mix of suggestions, tips and anecdotes that highlight the current situation and how to better navigate it. 

We’ll continue to model this into the end result and will be calling on you to review that in a trial in late August/early September. 

Community Outreach 

Another very successful month across the country with all six drop-ins (two in Edinburgh, two in London and one each in Oxfordshire and Worcestershire) being held in July. Huge thanks to all 14 volunteers involved once again.  

At the new session in Bicester in Oxfordshire, peer support volunteer Fiona was assisted by Sylvia and they were joined by the Oxfordshire Social Services Hearing Impairment Team, who took away the information postcards to hand out to their clients.

They were really pleased to find this great service on their doorstep.

Great networking…and also great preparation for Sylvia who will head up a new Hertfordshire drop-in to start alongside the sensory support service there starting in September. 

Teams 

The volunteer’s team channels are a regular source of information and encouragement. Thank you to everyone who visits and sends positive messages to their fellow peer support volunteers and the staff they work with. 

There is an average of one new post every two days, and in the last 30 days there have been over 80 reactions and replies…if you haven’t been for a while, do check it out soon.