Health service co-launches on-demand Auslan service

BENDIGO Health has teamed up with national service provider for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community Expression Australia to launch an Australian-first online interpreting solution.

The BODI (Business On Demand Interpreting) service, which has been trialled at the hospital over the past two weeks, provides on-demand, digital interpreting assistance to hospital staff and patients immediately via an Auslan interpreter.

The solution allows for clear, real-time communication in critical situations, connecting hospital staff and deaf individuals with Expression Australia’s qualified team of interpreters.

Expression Australia CEO Rebecca Adam said the initiative marks a “critical moment” in the history of access in hospital systems for the deaf and hard of hearing community.

“Especially within such a critical space as healthcare and in hospitals, it’s been a very difficult place for deaf and hard-of-hearing people to engage with,” she said.

“Firstly, there’s not enough interpreters available.

“Also, there’s a lack of awareness about how deaf and hard-of-hearing people should have access to all parts of information about their health to make the right informed decisions, which can inform their health outcomes.

“That’s why this is really an exciting moment in this partnership to be able to deliver critical information to the deaf community.”

Bendigo Health director Andrea Sloane, who looks after interpreting services at the hospital and has been working with Expression Australia on a two-week trial of the technology, said it is going to “empower people”, knowing that when they walk into the hospital environment they have got access to an interpreter on demand.

“This is a tool to be used between someone arriving at the hospital and their appointment, where a face-to-face interpreter will be present,” Ms Sloane said.

“It gives people a lot more independence so that they’re able to come in here by themselves (without) a carer with them.”