Scottish Ethnic Minority Deaf Charity – Healthy Deaf Minds Project
Tasnim Ahmed, Operations Manager at SEMDC
Since 2021, Corra’s Henry Duncan Grants has included ring-fenced funding committed to Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic-led organisations. This blog is part of a series sharing community stories from Henry Duncan Grants ring-fenced funded projects from 2021, when the funding theme was community-based mental health and wellbeing support.
Thank you to Tasnim Ahmed, Operations Manager at SEMDC, for writing this piece for us.
Scottish Ethnic Minority Charity (SEMDC) is a members organisation supporting the ethnic minority deaf community in Scotland. SEMDC is unique to Scotland and provides a variety of services ranging from a bi-weekly Saturday support group, to advocacy, advice, signposting and information in accessible sign languages.
Mental health concerns are prevalent within this community, and there is a distinct lack of communication support available to access mainstream advice and information on health-related subjects, including mental health support services. With this in mind, we developed the Healthy Deaf Minds Project and the Henry Duncan Grants funding enabled us to continue this for a second year.
Healthy Deaf Minds
In year two of Healthy Deaf Minds, we were able to continue to raise awareness of mental health issues and provide interactive workshops around confidence building, goal setting, assertiveness and relaxation. The members felt that year two should focus on practical activities and techniques they can use in everyday life, which is why we included mindfulness and yoga.
To help combat loneliness and isolation, three group trips were also organised, providing an opportunity to share learning outside of a classroom setting, increase self-confidence and build stronger friendships. A day out to the outdoor activity centre Go Ape helped members to be more confident and face their fears, as well as bond with others working as part of a team.
‘A purpose to get up in the morning’
One member who benefitted greatly from participating is a young man from a hearing Bangladeshi family. He started SEMDC very shy and self-conscious, being fully supported by his family who are all hearing, making communication impossible. With a hope to gain more independence, he was referred to the Healthy Deaf Minds project by our Employability Officer, who believed he had potential to grow, although lacking in motivation and self-confidence.
As the weeks progressed, the SEMDC member began to feel more confident and was making valuable contributions to the workshops. The topics, including assertiveness, positive self-talk and goal setting, were beginning to make an impact. Following the vision setting workshop, it was noted that the SEMDC member had ambitions to work in an environment where he felt valued and included. During the final workshop where he learned about presentation skills, his personality really shone through and we noticed a change in confidence and determination to succeed.
When a vacancy arose at SEMDC, the member put all his learning into place and was prepped for an interview. He did exceptionally well and was offered the role and he now travels independently to work and enjoys his work. His father has commended SEMDC and the provision of the Healthy Deaf Minds project, saying that his son now ‘has a purpose to get up in the morning’.
‘More members comfortably discussing mental health issues’
In total 12 members accessed the project – the workshops were at full capacity and much looked forward to. From our evaluation, we know that our members’ knowledge and understanding increased and that they felt less lonely and socially isolated. We witnessed an increase in peer-to-peer support, with more established members befriending newer members who came as refugees. Enlightening conversations were shared on their cultures, and the multiple challenges faced when entering the country, and friendship were formed. We are hearing more members comfortably discussing mental health issues, both in group settings and in one-to-one appointments.
Calls to action:
Improving communication support for Deaf people in mainstream health care
We wish to educate support agencies on the relevance of providing the right level of communication support. More and more members are approaching staff in regards to their mental health, and this is a developing priority at SEMDC. However, due to increasing demand, we feel it is vital communication support is also made available as part of mainstream healthcare.
The majority of our members have no reading or writing skills, or even basic British Sign Language. They require the support of a Deaf Relay Interpreter, who is a Deaf person who works alongside a British Sign Language Interpreter, to accurately render British Sign Language into another form of signed language or vice versa. At SEMDC we are fortunate to have two members of staff skilled in Deaf Relay, therefore we are able to provide this unique support. Many health professionals are unaware of things like Deaf Relay and we’d like this to become more widely available.
Reaching & increasing support for the ethnic minority deaf community
There is an express need to reach more people in the ethnic minority deaf community to raise awareness of mental health issues, helping to remove stigma. The opportunity to become part of a group also helps to combat loneliness and isolation – common for those we work alongside. There are also lots of topics we haven’t yet covered. As we approach year three, the members have suggested themes including:
- therapeutic arts
- cultural awareness’
- ‘suicide prevention’.
- ‘same-sex’ workshops e.g. on menopause and men’s health, that culturally are often seen as ‘taboo.’
Corra visit to Scottish Ethnic Minority Deaf Charity
Corra’s Shasta and Emma were delighted to arrange a visit to the SEMDC office recently to learn more about their work.
We were greeted by Nafiesa, Development Officer at SEMDC and the British Sign Language (BSL) translator Carol who regularly works with Nafiesa. Nafiesa is one of three staff members who are skilled in Deaf Relay – translating sign languages of different nationalities into British Sign Language. This is vital at SEMDC as their members comprise of people from many nationalities, including many refugee and asylum seekers – the group who were taking the BSL class had members from Pakistan, Syria and Iran.
Nafiesa described the amazing progress members have made and shared inspiring individual stories where members have made strong friendships and increased their confidence since attending SEMDC. One member, who had no BSL at all when he first arrived at SEMDC, is now leading one of their regular social walking groups.
Nafiesa told us:
“Healthy Deaf Minds is there to help all the members understand information that would be of benefit to them. To help change their lives, things they might never have encountered before, terminology they didn’t know about before. To help build confidence within them, to know what the words are for things that they need to know for everyday life. Also, there’s a lot of information sharing that goes on, a lot of question and answer sessions, and people can share their experiences.
We got funding for my position in 2018 and I have been here ever since. I am very, very busy. In my previous job I was the only deaf person, it was very quiet and there was that lack of communication. But since I’ve joined SEMDC it’s flown by. There are so many things to organise and meetings to have. We have a deaf club where the members can just come chat, relax and socialise and the members love getting involved in planning our group trips. This is my favourite part of my job – the trips, workshops and art and crafts. A lot of the group members have skills themselves and they volunteer to come in and teach other members and it’s really enjoyable.”
It was a total privilege to visit and hear about the amazing work SEMDC are doing and the achievements of members, some who we got to meet on our visit – thank you!
Find out more:
SEMDC | Scottish Ethnic Minority Deaf Charity
https://www.facebook.com/p/scottish-ethnic-minority-deaf-charity-scio-100076561617745/