S1: From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's
S1: your host, Sam Collins.
S2: Hello everyone. It's great to be here with you. And
S2: for the next half hour we talk matters of blindness
S2: and low vision.
S3: Things like orientation around a room or a clinic room
S3: or a busy ward is intimidating for everybody. And then
S3: if there are additional supports that somebody might require, or
S3: that experience might be pretty stressful. So the DLO can
S3: help in those kinds of situations. So we would work
S3: directly with the individual and talking to them about what
S3: they might need, what kind of orientation they might need
S3: around the environment they're in. And we would also communicate
S3: with us with the staff members around that person.
S2: Welcome to the program. We've got a couple of exciting
S2: interviews for you this week featuring Christine and Jill from
S2: the Disability Liaison Officer Program, a program through the Victorian
S2: Government to enable people with disability to access the health
S2: care that they require. Now that interviews coming up very shortly.
S2: So make sure to stick around to hear more from
S2: Christine and Jill. Then after you hear from them, we've
S2: got Jordan Ashby from the Telling Program. He's here to
S2: tell us all about the January Tell a link special
S2: interest program, in particular, three webinars with prominent figures from
S2: the blind and low vision community achieving really cool things.
S2: And then to wrap up, Frances Kalen joins us with
S2: a way to recommend it, and we finish with some
S2: news and information. I hope you'll enjoy this week's episode
S2: of Talking Vision. For people who are blind or have
S2: low vision, or for people with disability more generally, they
S2: may have experienced issues in the past with accessing the
S2: health care they require and face a series of concerns
S2: or frustrations when trying to receive health care that is
S2: accessible and meets their needs. That's where our next two
S2: guests come in. Their names are Kristen and Jillian, and
S2: they are both disability liaison officers working together with the
S2: Victorian Department of Health to overcome these barriers in the
S2: health care sector. And they join me now to talk
S2: all about it. Joe, Kristen, thanks so much for being
S2: with us today.
S4: Thank you. Thanks so much.
S2: Kristen will come to you. Firstly, tell us a bit
S2: about the Disability Liaison Officer program.
S4: Sure. So the Disability Liaison Officer program or the DLO program, um,
S4: commenced in 2020. And this year, um, the Victorian state
S4: budget has committed a further funding to continue the program
S4: for at least another three years. So we have Delos, um,
S4: a based in health services across both metropolitan and regional Victoria.
S4: And we work to provide direct and indirect support to
S4: people with disability so they can access the health care
S4: that they need.
S2: And, um, Kristen, could you tell our listeners a bit
S2: about what a disability liaison officer does?
S4: Yeah, sure. So the disability liaison officers, um, work here
S4: in the hospital to support people with disability to get
S4: access to the right healthcare at the right time in
S4: a way that suits them. So very patient centered. We
S4: do a lot of things, um, different things. And this
S4: will largely be dependent on what the person identifies as
S4: they might need. Um, so some examples, uh, like advocating
S4: for longer appointment times or, um, noting down patient preferences
S4: and how they can receive their health care. Um, and
S4: including things like communication preferences and that can support staff
S4: to know how best to communicate with the patient and
S4: with the healthcare staff, in addition to working one on
S4: one with people, the dialogue is also champion and support
S4: delivery of service improvement activities. Um and dealers um have
S4: the skills to lay out or carry out strategic activity
S4: where the objective of that activity is to support equitable
S4: and optimal access to healthcare so we can do things
S4: in the space of influence or advocate advocate for systemic change,
S4: support the delivery of disability action plans within health services.
S4: Provide some broader staff education to build disability confident workforce,
S4: and partnering with other health services in the department to
S4: deliver on some of the um service improvement activities in
S4: inclusive Victoria, the State disability Action Plan.
S2: And Jill, did you have anything to add there?
S3: I'm going to give a little example actually, on when
S3: Christine spoke about the disability action plans. Most of the
S3: health services that have done a disability action plan now
S3: have made sure that the plan itself is accessible to
S3: all users or readers. So we have the screen reader
S3: technology built in. Some of the health services have been
S3: able to have their disability action plan developed into what
S3: we call an easy English or easy read version. So
S3: there's simplified language and with some pictures to go with
S3: the language. And then we're also aware that some it's
S3: separate to disability action plans in terms of actual wayfinding
S3: around hospitals, one of the health services in metropolitan Melbourne
S3: has been able to implement the bendy maps, so that
S3: I'm sure listeners are aware of indie maps, but they
S3: provide a whole lot of information about wayfinding through a hospital,
S3: such as where to find lifts or where to find
S3: wayfinding information. So I think they're great initiatives across health
S3: services that are really trying to break down some of
S3: those barriers that that people who visit hospitals may experience.
S2: Now, Jill will stay with you. Give our listeners a
S2: bit of info about where the DLO program primarily operates
S2: at the moment.
S3: Yeah, sure. Thanks, Sam. As Christine said, we are in
S3: many of the public hospitals around Victoria. We're not in
S3: every health service, but we certainly try and cover the
S3: state as best we can. So most of the major
S3: metropolitan hospitals have a DLO presence, as do the big
S3: the regional areas. Sometimes you'll find a DLO in in
S3: a place like Kyabram, um and Colac, which would not
S3: necessarily be the normal expectation for a program such as this.
S3: And they do great work with their local communities and
S3: are very connected. So I was thinking before about how
S3: to share information about how to find out about whether
S3: your local health service has a DLO, and probably the
S3: best way is to go to the home page of
S3: your local hospital or health. Service and search for disability
S3: liaison officer. And that would probably give you information about
S3: whether there is a DLO in your local health service
S3: or not, and how to contact them.
S2: All right. Perfect. And, um, could you give some examples, Jill,
S2: of where the DLO has worked with some members of
S2: the blindness and low vision community in particular?
S5: Yeah, we'd be happy to. I'd probably also.
S3: Worth saying that Delos, in that patient facing role, might
S3: be that that person is an inpatient, or that might
S3: be that person's at an outpatient trying to come into
S3: hospital for to access an appointment. So we would work
S3: across the board regardless of where the person is. We
S3: can help people navigate the health system. So a couple
S3: of examples might be and it talks to how we
S3: were referencing the maps before or providing information about wayfinding.
S3: So we think about how communication might be provided to somebody,
S3: whether they're in the community or whether they're an inpatient
S3: on a ward, and whether that information is accessible to them.
S3: And we can speak to the ward staff, or we
S3: can speak to the specialist clinics teams and so on
S3: around providing information in a way that people can actually
S3: access it and find it easily.
S5: Um, we were thinking, too, that there was we've had some.
S3: Scenarios where if someone might have or experienced blindness or
S3: low vision, but they may also experience another disability, another disability,
S3: such as an intellectual disability or cognitive or sensory disability.
S3: And when there's these experiences, the barriers to healthcare can
S3: quickly multiply and things can become even more challenging. So
S3: things like orientation around a room or a clinic room
S3: or a busy ward is intimidating for everybody. And then
S3: if there are additional supports that somebody might require, or
S3: that experience might be pretty stressful. So the DLO can
S3: help in those kinds of situations to advise or educate
S3: the staff that are supporting the patient. We might think about,
S3: as Krista mentioned earlier, the care needs or preferences of
S3: that person has. And we think about how how those
S3: might be best met in the hospital environment. So we
S3: would work directly with the individual and talking to them
S3: about what they might need, what kind of orientation they
S3: might need around the environment they're in. And we would
S3: also communicate with us with the staff members around that person.
S3: So as a situation, I remember where a person lived
S3: in a supported residential facility and the staff at that
S3: at that house were really concerned that this particular person
S3: wasn't going to have their needs met when they came
S3: to hospital, because they might have difficulty communicating their needs
S3: and because of their blindness. So we worked with the person,
S3: the ward staff. We gave them some general orientation and
S3: communication strategies. We did things like remind the staff about
S3: where to put the call bill, for example. Really simple things,
S3: but could be quite a challenge for an individual. We
S3: encourage them, I guess, around supporting that person to mobilize
S3: and to feel safe in that ward environment, to get
S3: up and go to the toilet and those kinds of things.
S3: We checked in directly with the person about what would
S3: make them feel more comfortable and safe. And then we
S3: made sure that this was written in the care preferences
S3: section of the that person's hospital record. We also have
S3: some communication boards at the at the head of a
S3: of a patient's bed. So popping some lights up there
S3: for the staff to say.
S2: Oh, that's very pleasing to hear the case studies and
S2: successful outcomes that the DLS have been able to accomplish
S2: in those sort of situations, especially with those intersections between blindness,
S2: low vision and, you know, other disabilities there. So that's
S2: some quite pleasing for sure. Now, Kristen, I'd like to
S2: just come to you now, what are some examples and
S2: case studies from your side of things that you'd like
S2: to let our listeners know about?
S4: I think probably the Jill's probably covered off on a
S4: number of the kind of common, more common ones. I
S4: think the patient care preferences, which I mentioned earlier, is
S4: probably that. And versions of that across the health network
S4: really help that communication between the staff and the patient
S4: and understanding, um, those adjustments in care that can really, um,
S4: improve the experience for the patient while they're an inpatient
S4: or while they're receiving outpatient services.
S2: Well, that's pretty much covered off on everything. So thank
S2: you very much, both of you, for that. I've been
S2: speaking today with Kristen and Jill from the Disability Liaison
S2: Officer Program about how the DLS can help people with
S2: various disabilities to access the health services they require in
S2: hospital and health care situations. I'm Sam Culley and you're
S2: listening to Talking Vision on Vision Australia Radio, associated stations
S2: of RPM and the Community Radio Network. I hope you
S2: enjoyed that conversation there with Christine and Jill from the
S2: Disability Liaison Officer Program. If you missed any part of
S2: that interview, or you'd love to hear from Christine and
S2: Jill again, Talking vision will be available on the Vision
S2: Australia Radio website at RVA radio.org. That's RVA radio.org. You
S2: can also find the program on the podcast app of
S2: your choice or through the Vision Australia library. And now
S2: let's find out a little bit more about the January
S2: special interest program with Jordan Ashby. I'm here today with
S2: Jordan Ashby, volunteer coordinator in New South Wales, and eyesight
S2: also involved in the telling program and in particular the
S2: upcoming January webinar series, which he'll be hosting quite a
S2: few of. Jordan, welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you very
S2: much for your time.
S6: Thank you for having me, Sam. As usual.
S2: Now, Jordan, let's some let's get into those webinar series.
S2: You've got three coming up in January. So tell us
S2: about those.
S6: Yeah. So the webinar series in January is going to
S6: be um, it's going to have a focus on, uh,
S6: the changing perceptions of blind and low vision people in
S6: mainstream media. Um, so we've got some really interesting speakers
S6: on that topic. Uh, first off, the ranks will be
S6: Alister Lee, who's a is based in Sydney. He's a
S6: voiceover artist, and I like to call him the man
S6: of a thousand Voices and accents. So he's a, uh,
S6: as I said, a voiceover actor, and he is blind,
S6: which I think is what we're trying to sort of
S6: get across as well, is that a lot of these, uh,
S6: people that are coming well, the three webinar speakers that
S6: we've got are blind and low vision people that are
S6: changing these perceptions out in mainstream media. So Alister Lee
S6: is the first one that we're doing. Second one will
S6: be Steph Green, who's a New Zealand based, self-published USA
S6: today prize winning author of over 30 titles. Um, more
S6: importantly as well, too, she's going to be speaking to
S6: us a little bit about her self-help books around, uh,
S6: assisting other authors in self-publishing. Uh, and obviously, as I said,
S6: she's blind as well, which provides her a unique insight to, uh,
S6: our audience around who may be interested in getting into
S6: writing and things like that. Uh, our last speaker for
S6: this series is, uh, somewhat of a coup. Uh, his
S6: name is Joe Strick. Uh, he's had a very storied career. Uh,
S6: so he started off as a blindness consultant on the
S6: Netflix series, uh, Daredevil, uh, where he came in and
S6: trained Charlie Cox on how to play the character. He
S6: then moved on to become a associate producer on the
S6: Apple TV series called sea with, uh, Jason Momoa as
S6: the lead. Uh, and he's also an associate producer on
S6: the recent Netflix series, uh, All the Light we Cannot See. Huge,
S6: huge advocate for blind and low vision actors and was
S6: involved in casting the two main leads for all the
S6: light we cannot see.
S2: Now, Jordan, tell us a little bit more about Alastor. Well,
S2: would people have heard his voice before? Most likely.
S6: Yeah. So he has like a large portfolio of, uh,
S6: TV commercials. Uh, he's sort of dipped his feet into
S6: audio description as well. Uh, he's also done a lot
S6: of work around sort of TV roles as well, just
S6: back up TV roles as well. So he's got a
S6: bit of a storied career, done a lot of radio. Yeah.
S2: Oh, cool. And with Steph, she's, um, released quite a
S2: few books. She's quite a prolific author, as I understand.
S2: What are some sort of books, in particular the self-help titles.
S2: But in terms of some famous or like, quite well
S2: known titles that she's written? Yeah.
S6: So as I said, she writes, um, gothic romance novels.
S2: Oh, wow.
S6: There you go. So she, uh, under she's under the. Well,
S6: she writes under the name of Stephanie Holmes for her
S6: actual portfolio of books. So with her sort of books, they,
S6: as I said, she found it very, very hard to
S6: break into being an author. She was getting knocked back
S6: a lot. So she she delved into the publishing, the publishing,
S6: self-publishing field, uh, and some of the sort of more
S6: recent ones that she's done. Um, she had a title
S6: in 2023 called You're So Dead to Me. She's had
S6: Of Mice and Murder, which was the USA today winning book. Oh, wow. Um,
S6: so she's got a large sort of list of books.
S6: She's got about 30 to 35 books that she's published. Right? Um,
S6: so very, very prolific. Um, based in New Zealand, as
S6: I've touched on. So the fact that she's gotten so
S6: big in the USA is a big coup for her
S6: as well. Very, very busy author.
S2: Yeah, it's fantastic news and really great to have these
S2: people on the line in January. So looking forward to
S2: seeing how that goes. And just before we move on,
S2: I think there's some other exciting news with, um, Joe Strecker.
S2: One of his shows has actually been nominated for a
S2: Golden Globe. So that's quite incredible. And, you know, as
S2: you've said, quite a coup. So that's really sort of
S2: going gangbusters, hasn't it?
S6: Yeah. So all the light we cannot see was based.
S6: It's a four part series directed by Shawn Levy, who, uh,
S6: worked on, uh, The Good Guy and is currently working
S6: on Daredevil with Ryan Reynolds. So very, very known producer
S6: Joe cast Aria Marie Liberty as the lead role in
S6: that particular show, which she'd never done acting before. And
S6: she's blind and low vision, so she's. Never sort of
S6: got into acting. This was just a really sort of
S6: her first dip in the water, basically. And she's, uh,
S6: she's starring alongside Mark Ruffalo and, uh, Hugh Laurie. So
S6: a very, very, uh, very, very big cast for this
S6: Netflix series.
S2: Yeah. No. Yeah. And it's an incredible four part series.
S6: Okay. Uh, four episodes currently on Netflix at the moment.
S6: All audio described. And it's based on the prize winning books.
S6: All the light we cannot see.
S2: Oh, perfect.
S6: So, um, follows a blind girl in the midst of
S6: World War two who, uh, strikes up a connection with
S6: a German soldier. And it's a very, very interesting story.
S6: I'd encourage anybody who's listening to this to go and
S6: watch it on the Netflix series. It's very, very good.
S2: Okay, there you go. All the light. And that's what he's, uh.
S6: He was initially booked for the first, uh, first Monday
S6: in January, uh, that we come back, uh, however, I
S6: had to move it because that's when the Golden Globes
S6: is on. So. Yeah. Right.
S2: There you go. So, um, in regards to that, let's
S2: get the dates that these three will be appearing. So, um,
S2: we'll start off with Alister. What day and time can
S2: people expect to catch up with him.
S6: So the first webinar series now with that change in schedule,
S6: is going to be the, uh, 15th of January at
S6: 2 p.m., Dallas Daly joining us from Sydney. Uh, the
S6: second second webinar with Steph Green is going to be
S6: at 2 p.m. on the 22nd, uh, Eastern Standard Time,
S6: of course. And the final webinar is now going to
S6: be on the 29th of January at 2 p.m. with
S6: Joe Straker.
S2: And how can people register to head along to the
S2: zoom webinars?
S6: Yeah. So, um, if you're if you were to sort
S6: of call up, uh, Vision Australia, you can register up
S6: with tele link and they can give you that information.
S6: So yeah, if you go over onto the Vision Australia
S6: website and you just search for the Summer tele link series,
S6: it'll come up with all of our interesting webinars. All right.
S2: Cool. And that website again is Vision australia.org Vision australia.org
S2: and search for tell link. Jordan thank you very much
S2: for your time today. I've been speaking today with Jordan Ashby,
S2: the volunteer coordinator from New South Wales, and I say
S2: also responsible for the telling program and facilitator of three
S2: exciting upcoming January webinars with three very important people from
S2: the blind and low vision community doing incredible things. Jordan,
S2: thank you very much for your time today. It's a
S2: pleasure to catch up.
S6: Thank you for having me on again, Sam.
S2: And now here's Francis Kelland with a reader recommended.
S7: Thank you Sam. The book today was the first book
S7: in an incredibly successful series, the Outlander series, which went
S7: on to become a successful television series as well. The
S7: first book in the series is called Cross Stitch, and
S7: for those of you who like a good historical fiction,
S7: read with a little bit of a time slip happening,
S7: you'll enjoy this series and Scottish history as well. Cross-stitch
S7: is by Diana Gabaldon. In 1945, a Claire Randall, a
S7: former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited
S7: with her husband on a second honeymoon. Their blissful reunion
S7: is shattered when she touches a boulder in one of
S7: the ancient stone ruins, and is instantly transported to a
S7: Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in 1743,
S7: we'll clear find her way back to her own time.
S7: Or is her destiny forever linked with Clan Mackenzie and
S7: the gallant James Fraser? Let's hear a sample of Cross-stitch,
S7: part one in the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series. It's narrated
S7: by Denise Kirby.
S8: It wasn't a very likely place for disappearances, at least
S8: at first glance. Mrs. Baird's was like a thousand other
S8: Highland bed and breakfast establishments in 1946, clean and quiet
S8: with fading floral wallpaper, gleaming floors and a coin operated
S8: water heater in the bathroom. Mrs. Baird herself was squat
S8: and easygoing, and made no objection to Frank lining her
S8: tiny rose sprig parlour with the dozens of books and
S8: papers with which he always travelled. I met Mrs. Baird
S8: in the front hall. On my way out. She stopped
S8: me with a pudgy hand on my arm and patted
S8: at my hair. Dear me, Mrs. Randall, you kind of
S8: go out like that here. Just let me tuck that
S8: bit in for you there. That's better. You know, my
S8: cousin was telling me about a new perm. She tried,
S8: comes out beautiful and holds like a dream. Perhaps you
S8: should try that kind next time. I hadn't the heart
S8: to tell her that the waywardness of my light brown
S8: curls was strictly the fault of nature, and not due
S8: to any dereliction on the part of the permanent wave manufacturers.
S8: Her own tightly marked celled waves suffered from no such perversity. Yes,
S8: I'll do that, Mrs. Baird, I lied. I'm just going
S8: down to meet Frank. We'll be back for tea.
S7: And that was Cross-stitch, part one in the Outlander series
S7: by Diana Gabaldon. And there are all of the books
S7: in the series in the collection. It's quite a long
S7: series and it has so many fans, so if you
S7: would like to get that book or any other of
S7: the wonderfully long series that we have in the collection,
S7: or short books, short stories, anything you're after, give the
S7: library a call on 1300 654 656. That's one 306 54656. Or
S7: you can email library at Vision Australia. Org that's library
S7: at Vision Australia. Org.
S2: And now, finally, before we go, some news and information
S2: on behalf of the Australian blind and Low Vision community
S2: Vision Australia wish to pay tribute to the life and
S2: achievements and recognise the outstanding community contributions of Doctor Kevin
S2: Moffatt OAM. Over the course of his life, Kevin created
S2: a lasting legacy for his contributions to Vision Australia, Blind
S2: Citizens Australia, World Blind Union, Asia Pacific and numerous other
S2: areas and initiatives that have had direct and positive impact
S2: for the blind and low vision community. Prior to the
S2: formation of Vision Australia, Kevin served as Vice President of
S2: the Royal Victorian Institute for the blind. He also gave
S2: 12 years of dedicated service on the board of Vision Australia,
S2: including ten years as chair. Kevin was also a director
S2: on the Disability Services Board of the Victorian State Government,
S2: and in 2006 he was conferred his Doctor of Philosophy
S2: from Deakin University, with his research focusing on diversity and employment.
S2: In 2002, Kevin received a Human Rights Award from the
S2: Australian Human Rights Commission for contributing to the Disability Discrimination Act.
S2: In 2017, Kevin was awarded an OAM for his extensive
S2: service to the blindness and low vision community. Ron Horton,
S2: Vision Australia CEO, said Kevin would be remembered as a
S2: pillar of the disability community across Australia and the world.
S2: Today is a sad day for our community. Not only
S2: was Kevin instrumental in the formation of Vision Australia, his
S2: years of selfless service across the blind and low vision
S2: community have had a massive impact that will never be forgotten,
S2: Ron said. From everyone at Vision Australia, we offer our
S2: condolences to Kevin's family and friends and our thoughts are
S2: with them, he said. And that's all we have time
S2: for today. You've been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision
S2: is a production of Vision Australia Radio. Thanks to all
S2: involved with putting the show together. And remember we love
S2: your feedback and comments. So please do get in touch
S2: on Talking Vision at Vision australia.org. That's talking vision all.
S2: One word at Vision australia.org. But until next week it's
S2: Sam Culley saying bye for now.
S1: You can contact Virgin Australia by phoning us anytime during
S1: business hours on one 308 4746. That's one 384 746
S1: or by visiting Vision australia.org. That's Vision Australia call.