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Democrat & Chronicle: Local News
State and local grants totaling more than $160,000 have been given to Unity at Home to launch a service targeting home care for deaf people, giving them the same kind of in-home assistance that their hearing counterparts have had for years.
Now, deaf senior citizens needing home-care assistance may be assigned to workers who don't know how to communicate with them in sign language.
With this grant, 16 members of the deaf community or those who know sign language fluently will be trained to become certified home health aides. A program coordinator fluent in American Sign Language will be hired to do outreach with potential deaf clients and assist them in receiving services.
Steve Lovi, president of Deaf & Disability Outreach Services, applied for the grant on behalf of Unity at Home, a program of Unity Health Services.
"I was inspired and reminded of how valued Rochester's deaf seniors are to this community, especially after seeing successful deaf senior services elsewhere in the country. This only served my resolve to ensure that Rochester was able to begin providing comparable services to its deaf seniors," he said.
It is estimated that 90 to 100 clients would benefit from the new program in the first two years, said Patrizia Corvaia, a spokeswoman for Unity Health System.
Barbara Bushart, services coordinator for deaf and hard-of-hearing clients at Lifespan, said elderly deaf persons needing assistance in their homes now are referred to agencies that are well-prepared for hearing consumers but have little experience or communication skills to work with deaf clients.
"The Unity program will be wonderful for people whose primary language is a visual language," she said.
"For the first time in Rochester, there will be a home health care program specifically developed with the deaf community in mind. ... Good communication is so vital because it provides socialization for the person who is ill and may not be able to get out to other events at that time and it makes the helping process much more comfortable and enjoyable for everyone."
State and local grants totaling more than $160,000 have been given to Unity at Home to launch a service targeting home care for deaf people, giving them the same kind of in-home assistance that their hearing counterparts have had for years.
Now, deaf senior citizens needing home-care assistance may be assigned to workers who don't know how to communicate with them in sign language.
With this grant, 16 members of the deaf community or those who know sign language fluently will be trained to become certified home health aides. A program coordinator fluent in American Sign Language will be hired to do outreach with potential deaf clients and assist them in receiving services.
Steve Lovi, president of Deaf & Disability Outreach Services, applied for the grant on behalf of Unity at Home, a program of Unity Health Services.
"I was inspired and reminded of how valued Rochester's deaf seniors are to this community, especially after seeing successful deaf senior services elsewhere in the country. This only served my resolve to ensure that Rochester was able to begin providing comparable services to its deaf seniors," he said.
It is estimated that 90 to 100 clients would benefit from the new program in the first two years, said Patrizia Corvaia, a spokeswoman for Unity Health System.
Barbara Bushart, services coordinator for deaf and hard-of-hearing clients at Lifespan, said elderly deaf persons needing assistance in their homes now are referred to agencies that are well-prepared for hearing consumers but have little experience or communication skills to work with deaf clients.
"The Unity program will be wonderful for people whose primary language is a visual language," she said.
"For the first time in Rochester, there will be a home health care program specifically developed with the deaf community in mind. ... Good communication is so vital because it provides socialization for the person who is ill and may not be able to get out to other events at that time and it makes the helping process much more comfortable and enjoyable for everyone."