One in twenty people over the age of 75 are deafblind. They have a combination of both sight and hearing loss. This has a serious impact on their lives, their health and the lives of people around them.
Support is available which helps to keep older deafblind people active, independent and healthy. But few receive appropriate services.
Primary healthcare providers have an important role to play in improving quality of life for older deafblind people. They should identify older deafblind people and refer them for the support they need.
Sense has produced an information pack, called ‘It All Adds Up’, to help primary healthcare providers to do this.
Primary healthcare providers are very busy. They are bombarded with lots of information. They cannot read and use all of the information that they receive. They will be motivated to use ‘It All Adds Up’ if local people show their support by talking to them about it.
This is why your involvement is so important. You can help to support and motivate your local primary healthcare providers to use ‘It All Adds Up’. Even if you can only spare a couple of minutes, you can still make a difference.
