Stress Reduction For Deaf People - First Ever Relaxation DVD In BSL

Main Category: Hearing / Deafness
Also Included In: Anxiety / Stress;  Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 14 Nov 2008 - 1:00 PST

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The first ever self-help relaxation DVD in British Sign Language (BSL) has been produced by a group of specialist health care professionals together with Eyegaze Ltd, a company specialising in producing accessible information.

The DVD explains the nature of stress, its causes and effects and also includes some innovative relaxation exercises to help the viewer find peace of mind - all in BSL (English subtitles are also available). The DVD is suitable for all BSL users wishing to learn relaxation techniques at home to manage stress and so maintain and improve their health and confidence. The DVD, "Stress and Relaxation" can be ordered on-line at http://www.eyegaze.tv/health at £24.95 (free delivery).

Peter Gladwell, Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist, Frenchay Hospital Pain Management Centre initiated and led the project.

"We provide a DVD to service users of our Pain Management Service so they can practise and learn relaxation techniques at home. A Deaf patient pointed out to me that audio recordings were not much help to her, which is how the idea for this BSL DVD came about. Stress is a factor in everybody's life, not just for our patients, and this DVD has really filled a gap in making these relaxation techniques available to Deaf people. Fifty per cent of the profits from sales of the DVD will go towards funding other similar innovative projects. "

Teaching relaxation skills is crucial to the work of many physiotherapists dealing with pain management. These skills can often support an exercise programme when someone has persistent pain (as the muscles will be more relaxed etc) and relaxation in itself can help to relieve pain for some people. In addition, applied relaxation techniques can help people manage anxiety around doing exercise - people in pain are often very wary of trying to exercise as they fear they will make their pain worse. As well as directly helping people to manage their pain, relaxation techniques can help promote sleep, which is often a problem for people in pain, further reducing the service users potential need for medication.

The DVD production was highly collaborative with the initial script being written by Frenchay Hospital Pain Management Centre. It then went through a process of development involving a network of psychologists who work with Deaf people across the UK, EyeGaze TV and the DVD presenter, a Deaf woman whose first language is BSL.

The DVD has been funded with initial monies from the Friends of Frenchay Hospital and also through Bristol based company Eyegaze TV who invested their own time, energy and money into the project. Mick Canavan, a director of Eyegaze and father of a teenage daughter who is Deaf, comments " We feel this DVD can really make a positive difference to the lives of Deaf people and we hope that it will become widely available through health professionals and information centres such as libraries."

1. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is the professional, educational and trade union body for the UK's 49,000 chartered physiotherapists, physiotherapy students and assistants. For previous releases visit http://www.csp.org.uk

2. There are 8,945,000 Deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK. An estimated 50,000 people use British Sign Language as their first or preferred language. The ratio of fully-qualified interpreters to sign language users is 1 to 275, underlining the importance of providing information in BSL in formats such as BSL. (statistics source: RNID)

3. EyeGaze Ltd, the accessible information specialist, is a social enterprise dedicated to enabling organisations to communicate more effectively with their clients, customers and users. As well as providing a sign language translation service on web based and video projects, EyeGaze provides innovative handheld eguides for Deaf and disabled people at museums and galleries such as Tate Britain, the V & A and the SS Great Britain.

EyeGaze Ltd