Our working partnership with University of Liverpool continues to go from strength to strength, with new cohorts of medical students attending our Deaf Awareness training every September.
Background to the partnership
The partnership between MSDP and the University of Liverpool began over 20 years ago. The original workshops were set up and jointly delivered by Dr Maggie Hammond, one of our School of Medicine Communication for Clinical Practice lecturers, working with Linda Doddridge from MSDP. Over the past years, the workshops have been firmly integrated in the curriculum and timetable to enable smaller groups of students and more interactive practice. Facilitation of the session is now entirely provided by expert MSDP trainers.
Addressing the communication challenges that Deaf and Hard of Hearing patients face in medical settings
Session activities are designed to raise awareness of the barriers encountered by Deaf and Hard of Hearing patients and the skills and services that can help overcome these barriers in practice.
Students have the opportunity to practice role-plays with and without the support of BSL interpreters and to reflect on communication practice when communicating with Deaf and Hard of Hearing patients, including an awareness of their own limitations and the importance of interpreters.
Delivering tangible results
Pre-and post-session questionnaires show that students’ self-rated confidence in their communication skills increases after the workshop.
Here’s what some of our recent students have had to say about the sessions:
“I feel as though I have learned some really useful tools to help me to communicate better.”
“I still do not feel confident to take a detailed history and/or explain medical information to a D/deaf, deafened, or hard of hearing person. However, I am now more aware of services and help that may be available for both parties during a consultation.”
“It was really useful to have the workshop delivered by facilitators who are deaf so that we would be able to hear their story and understand things from their perspective. Who else understands better what it is like?”
Professor Isobel Jenkins said “Despite improvements, Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in the UK continue to experience multiple barriers when accessing healthcare. We hope with our workshop, which is attended by all our graduates from Liverpool School of Medicine, to improve equity of access and healthcare experience for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in the UK”.
In the video below, MSDP Deaf Awareness course leader Ian Cockburn and Chris Huntley from the University of Liverpool discuss our partnership.
