A Single Strategy for Sensory Needs - The Highland Council

How many People?
Introduction
In recent years there has been a growing awareness, both in terms of the number of people
who have a sensory need and the importance of ensuring that people are able to access
services which are appropriate. It was acknowledged in the Scottish Executive’s document
‘Community Care Services for People with a Sensory Impairment – An Action Plan’ that
accurately estimating the numbers of people who have sensory needs and who may need
support is not straightforward. Agencies will therefore require to use a mixture of registration
(where this exists), prevalence data, local records and active contact to give a clear
indication of the nature, quality and location of need for service planning and delivery
purposes.
Hearing Support Needs
In every part of Scottish Society, irrespective of age, social background or other personal
characteristics, there is a wide range of individual needs relating to hearing loss, tinnitus and additional
disabilities.
It has been suggested that 48% of people with a learning disability also have a hearing loss which goes
undetected and that deaf people are more likely to experience mental health problems at some time in
their lives (48% vs 25%).
There are
around 758,000
adults with
some degree
of hearing loss
in Scotland.
RNID
Table 1: Estimated Prevalence of Need in General/Local Population
Circumstances % of population Estimated Highland Figure
Some form of hearing loss 14.00 29260
A profound hearing loss 0.50 1045
Use British Sign Language 0.10 209
Need access to telephone not using voice 0.76 1588
Use a hearing aid 10.48 21902
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