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Moray NESS worker hits the road in mobile service to help isolated and elderly deaf people through lockdown


By Lorna Thompson

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A MORAY woman has gone the extra mile through lockdown to help elderly people across Moray living with deafness – by converting her car into a mobile unit to change and service hearing aids.

In her work as a community inclusion co-ordinator for North East Sensory Services (NESS), Heather Roy (47), from Lhanbryde, is continually thinking up ways to improve everyday life for those with sensory impairment.

When lockdown restrictions put an end to virtually every activity NESS were able to put on, Heather was forced into a rethink of services.

At first this involved regular phone calls with lonely residents and help with shopping.

However, before long, a serious problem emerged.

Heather said: "People who wear hearing aids need to get them cleaned and the tubes changed every six months, otherwise they just stop working.

"What we were beginning to see was elderly people with hearing impairments who were too afraid to venture out to have this done, and that was clearly a problem.

"Over time, they would just have cut themselves off from the world."

In response, Heather converted the back of her Dacia Sandero into a mobile unit for the changing of hearing aids, and took to the road.

Heather said: "The process only takes about 10 minutes, but you need to know how to do it.

"I set up my kit on the shelf of my boot and packed all the things I needed and got going."

Heather Roy, a community inclusion co-ordinator for North East Sensory Services, has adapted her car as a mobile service to change people's hearing aids.
Heather Roy, a community inclusion co-ordinator for North East Sensory Services, has adapted her car as a mobile service to change people's hearing aids.

She has PPE provided by NESS comprising a plastic sheet that clips onto a baseball cap, allowing her to chat with those she visits. She said: "If you rely on lip-reading, it’s pretty hard to do that through a mask."

The difference her mobile service has made is significant.

Heather said: "A lot of our service users are lonely and isolated – something made so much worse by what we’ve all been living through.

"You would take their hearing aids and replace the tubes then, once they put them back in, you could just see the difference right across their face.

"You could actually see from their expression that they were opened up to the world again, because the more clogged up the tubes get, the less you can hear."

Battery supply was also a problem for some, with many relying on NESS to deliver batteries – which sometimes only last for a few days – straight to their door once the usual centres closed for lockdown.

"Some people had even just started wearing a hearing aid in one ear so they could make the batteries last longer," she added.

Heather was born with a condition called Treacher Collins Syndrome, and has undergone multiple operations to her face and ears.

Her hearing is now about 30 per cent, but with hearing aids and the latest technology it has been vastly improved.

Heather foresees that some new practices may become permanent in health and support services, saying: "There are definitely benefits from getting out and going to people’s homes.

"So I think we could see some of the current practices staying in place if they still work for those who need it."


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