The difficulties associated with interpreting when meaning is distorted or communication is bizarre Impact of language variation within the Deaf community Confidentiality issues when working in a small and close knit community Assistive Devices and Technology Culturally sensitive services provide deaf people with assistive devices and technology that welcomes or supports their ability to access services. The key element's identified by this study represent the views of a comparatively small number of people. If a mainstream mental health were to adopt and implement these as a model it would be possible to more fully evaluate whether or not deaf peoples access was improved and to what degree. Future research could then examine this in much greater detail. A number of other issues were identified through the research project.
Early intervention is of critical importance for all people with mental illness.
By and large deaf people do not tend to access services until their illness has progressed to an acute or chronic stage. The range of skill knowledge and expertise required by mental health workers in addition to their own clinical skills is considerable. Community Workers and other support workers with deaf people are rarely specifically skilled in the area of mental health. Most are employed as generalist workers in Deaf Societies and other organisations that work with and support deaf people. Two significant issues emerge.