Project Description

This project represents a ground-breaking initiative that focuses on providing language and communication skills to Deaf people, interpreters and those in the medical profession. Sometimes it is not possible to get an interpreter in a healthcare setting, often leaving a Deaf person or the healthcare provider in a situation which potentially compromises the level of patient care being delivered. Potentially, this forces a Deaf patient to either wait until an interpreter becomes available, or rely on a family or friend to casually interpret on their behalf. This is not ideal especially in medial situations that are sensitive, confidential or private in nature.

From the perspective of a Deaf community and the project consortium, it is important to note that the provision of qualified interpreters, and especially those trained in healthcare aspects, is not viewed as a luxury but as a fundamental human right to the access and provision of appropriate healthcare. Products addressing this need have been developed before, however they have been largely produced to serve a single geographic market and a single user group. Using experience of the proposed consortium, MEDISIGNS is planned to be rolled out in 5 countries and targets 3 distinct user groups in Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, Hungary and the UK.

The idea of the project was conceived by assessing the Australian Sign Language interpreter booking organization NABS’s course materials for Auslan interprets and also by examining similar products in the market. While a range of products do exist none are offered as multilingual interpreter training. Furthermore, a major element of the course focuses on providing essential information on Deaf culture and awareness to the medical profession which was evident in a survey carried out by Smeijers and Pfau (in press).