Salford Deaf Advocacy Service

Our base is at Langworthy Cornerstone, Liverpool St. Salford, MS 5QQ

What we do

The Salford Deaf Advocacy Service has been active since March 2020 and continued throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, offering a vital service to individuals, many of whom would have been cut off from mainstream support due to their use of a visual language. Our Salford Deaf Advocacy Service supports D/deaf, hard of hearing and deaf blind people within the Salford area.

Our primary aims are to support this cohort to

Improve access to health care services by championing reasonable adjustments based on communication needs
Reduce health inequalities resulting from communication difficulties
Highlight and challenge barriers to fair and equal service access, wherever found
Improve overall quality of life

A large part of our work is focussed around improving general Deaf Awareness amongst healthcare professionals in Salford. Our specialist trainers have supported over 100 front-line healthcare professionals through dedicated Deaf Awareness training, as part of our ongoing mission to ensure all healthcare services are fully accessible. A participant on one of our courses said what they found particularly useful was

"Explaining what was considered acceptable or not when communicating with a Deaf/deaf colleague and or member and how things can be perceived. Plus some good ideas about what we can check is in place in our workplace and if it isn’t there request that it is investigated."

We have also provided training to healthcare staff on how to work effectively with BSL interpreters, where this is necessary as part of their role. As a part of our commitment to ensuring fair and equal healthcare access in Salford, we can provide support to social care services to make necessary adjustments where required.

Specialist projects

iPad project

We have a library of iPads available for short term loans or digital coaching, to ensure the Deaf community are not left behind by the digital advance. These devices come with built-in WiFi and are simple to use. Contact us to make a referral for digital support. Someone who received this support said,

'I love the iPad. I can chat to my friends from home now - you showed me how to do that'

General advocacy

We can provide practical support such as making telephone calls or translating letters. Appointments are available at our Langworthy Cornerstone community base, which is easily accessible by public transport. Contact us to make an appointment with one of our experienced advocates.

Employment support

We can refer our clients to specialist employment services, designed to provide maximum support possible to the D/deaf, hard of hearing community and Deafblind communities. Contact us to make an appointment for employment support.

Service User Forums

Our Service User Forums are an opportunity to have your say about your own healthcare experiences in Salford. Meetings are held every two months, and anything shared is anonymised before being included in our feedback report to Salford CCG. Tea and coffee are provided too, some come along and help to improve healthcare services where you live! Contact us to join us at our next Service User Forum.

Signposting

We have vast experience working with other Salford organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau, ForHousing, Social Services and many others. If you’re unsure where to go with a query, or would like us to support you with the first step, please contact us.

Health Improvement

Our experienced advocates can support you in accessing specialist health improvement services, such as weight management and smoking cessation sessions. Contact us for support in making a change!

Fitness sessions

We are delighted to be working with Empower You to offer accessible fitness activities. Through Covid, these have been offered online, but we hope to get outside and enjoy the fresh air soon! Contact us to add your name to our list of participants.