Miss-Delectable
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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/opinion/article3143714.ece
From the living room of Frank's apartment in the care home, we had a lovely view of the seafront at Newcastle and the new walkway which stretches all the way round the bay from the Slieve Donard Hotel. The home is on elevated ground about half a mile from the town centre and the situation seems idyllic.
I was with Brian Symington, the RNID director for Northern Ireland, and Frank is a mutual friend who has gradually become more and more deaf since schooldays. He now copes with a cochlear implant and a rather basic command of sign language. Up until a few years ago Frank had lived up the mountain in a big house with his large family, but when the time came for them to spread their wings he decided to move to a smaller and more central position in the town, and when illness struck and driving was not an option, to this lovely care home.
Brian and I gained entrance by pressing a switch on the door to the apartment that buzzes at the same time as causing a light to blink. As well as the comfortable living room with its superb view and subtitled TV, Frank has his own bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, but told us most of his meals are prepared outside and delivered to his room. He has a special amplified phone and is gradually getting to grips with text messages on his mobile. Physically, everything is fine, but socially ? ?
The RNID has been concerned about this situation for several years and Brian told me it is still not sure about the right way to go about it. Is a home for older deaf people and those incapable of living alone a viable proposition? Such a home in Scotland had to close when the numbers declined and it became almost impossible to recruit appropriate staff. If the numbers are too few to consider a home for deaf people only, would it not be more sensible to consider building a separate wing in an already established home for elderly hearing folk - with deaf staff if appropriate?
Then there is the location to be considered. It's not just the problem of finding such a lovely location as Frank has in Newcastle, with shops and restaurants handy. Any proposed home would also have to consider the fact that our deaf population is scattered all over the province and children would want their aged parents as close to home as possible. Belfast remains the main hub of activity, so, as Brian tells me, they'll have to solve this problem before getting down to serious decision making on the appropriate location.
While waiting for the bus in Belfast last week, I met a spry and alert 85-year-old deaf friend and chatted with her about this question of moving to a home. She has been a widow for 16 years and told me she is glad now that she always resisted the pressure of family and friends to sell-up and move into a home. "I'm still fit enough to get about and do the shopping," she told me, "and I enjoy working in my wee garden. I don't feel lonely and value my privacy. I love meeting my deaf friends at church and other places, but I wouldn't want to have to live with them everyday."
My wife and I know another deaf lady in the same position who did sell her home and use the proceeds to move into a large private nursing home. She was the only deaf person there and assumed that the staff and inmates would soon come to understand her situation and learn to communicate.
But it didn't work out that way and she withdrew more and more to her single room. Then her sight deteriorated and neither reading nor watching TV were feasible. She became more and more lonely and depressed before her death.
Frank is one of those few deaf people who is quite content with his own company and happy with his books and family contacts. Not all deaf people are so self-contained.
From the living room of Frank's apartment in the care home, we had a lovely view of the seafront at Newcastle and the new walkway which stretches all the way round the bay from the Slieve Donard Hotel. The home is on elevated ground about half a mile from the town centre and the situation seems idyllic.
I was with Brian Symington, the RNID director for Northern Ireland, and Frank is a mutual friend who has gradually become more and more deaf since schooldays. He now copes with a cochlear implant and a rather basic command of sign language. Up until a few years ago Frank had lived up the mountain in a big house with his large family, but when the time came for them to spread their wings he decided to move to a smaller and more central position in the town, and when illness struck and driving was not an option, to this lovely care home.
Brian and I gained entrance by pressing a switch on the door to the apartment that buzzes at the same time as causing a light to blink. As well as the comfortable living room with its superb view and subtitled TV, Frank has his own bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, but told us most of his meals are prepared outside and delivered to his room. He has a special amplified phone and is gradually getting to grips with text messages on his mobile. Physically, everything is fine, but socially ? ?
The RNID has been concerned about this situation for several years and Brian told me it is still not sure about the right way to go about it. Is a home for older deaf people and those incapable of living alone a viable proposition? Such a home in Scotland had to close when the numbers declined and it became almost impossible to recruit appropriate staff. If the numbers are too few to consider a home for deaf people only, would it not be more sensible to consider building a separate wing in an already established home for elderly hearing folk - with deaf staff if appropriate?
Then there is the location to be considered. It's not just the problem of finding such a lovely location as Frank has in Newcastle, with shops and restaurants handy. Any proposed home would also have to consider the fact that our deaf population is scattered all over the province and children would want their aged parents as close to home as possible. Belfast remains the main hub of activity, so, as Brian tells me, they'll have to solve this problem before getting down to serious decision making on the appropriate location.
While waiting for the bus in Belfast last week, I met a spry and alert 85-year-old deaf friend and chatted with her about this question of moving to a home. She has been a widow for 16 years and told me she is glad now that she always resisted the pressure of family and friends to sell-up and move into a home. "I'm still fit enough to get about and do the shopping," she told me, "and I enjoy working in my wee garden. I don't feel lonely and value my privacy. I love meeting my deaf friends at church and other places, but I wouldn't want to have to live with them everyday."
My wife and I know another deaf lady in the same position who did sell her home and use the proceeds to move into a large private nursing home. She was the only deaf person there and assumed that the staff and inmates would soon come to understand her situation and learn to communicate.
But it didn't work out that way and she withdrew more and more to her single room. Then her sight deteriorated and neither reading nor watching TV were feasible. She became more and more lonely and depressed before her death.
Frank is one of those few deaf people who is quite content with his own company and happy with his books and family contacts. Not all deaf people are so self-contained.