Ask to speak at a primary healthcare team meeting

This takes a bit of preparation and time. It’s very effective because it gets all members of the staff team talking about older deafblind people. If you are not used to speaking to groups of people it might seem nerve-wracking but remember they will only have agreed to you speaking if they wanted to hear what you have to say.

What to do

• Phone, go into or write to your GP’s surgery to ask the practice manager if you could speak about older deafblind people at a primary healthcare team meeting. Be prepared to explain why this is important.
• Plan what you want to say. Find out how much time you will have and plan around this. Write prompt cards to remind you what you want to say.
• Be clear about your main points. Decide which of the key messages you want to include. The more time you have, the more information you can include.
• Have clear objectives. Decide what it is you want to get out of the meeting. For example, you might want an agreement that staff will work together to identify and refer older deafblind people.
• Take copies of ‘It All Adds Up’ to give to the staff.
• Listen to what staff say and respond honestly. If you do not know the answer to a question, say so and offer to try to find out and get back to them.
• If time allows, use discussion or a practical exercise to get staff participating and really thinking about what you are saying. Contact Sense’s Campaigns team if you would like to talk through ideas for practical exercises.
• Keep to time.

Afterwards, write a short (one page) letter thanking staff for meeting you and reminding them of the main points and of any action agreed. We have put together a template (word, 27kb) you can use to help you