Accessibility and support

Support for people who are neurodiverse 

If you identify as neurodiverse, for example you have a diagnosis of ADHD, autism or other condition that may impact how you access our services, please let us know so we can support you.

At Herefordshire and Worcestershire NHS Talking Therapies, we are committed to making our service accessible and pursuing equality within mental health care. We know that some people face barriers when accessing mental health services, and we aim to work with our service users to overcome these barriers:

Accessibility

• Accessibility information for many of our sites and buildings can be accessed via the AccessAble website. The guides include lots of useful information including where to park, getting around the building and the location of accessible toilets.
• Many of our wellbeing and self help support guides have been produced in alternative and accessible formats. These can be accessed via the resource section of the website.
• If you have a communication or information support need please let us know.  We can provide information in a range of different formats, including braille, large text and easy read, and also have an interpreting and translation service available to patients and their carers. More information on this is available on the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust website.

Adaptations

You may feel that certain things are required for you to use our service comfortably. Everyone is different but below we have listed some examples of the adaptations we make on a regular basis:

Things we can do:

• We can provide large font, braille, and easy-read documents
• We can provide a professional interpreter/translator
• You may prefer to work with a clinician of a certain gender and we can provide this
• Sessions can be longer or shorter if needed, and you can have rest breaks
• If you find our sessions contain too much information, then we’ll work with you to make the sessions suit you.

Things you can do

• You may want to record your session to refer back to
• Not use, or reduce eye contact if this is something that you find difficult
• You can bring a family member or friend with you if that is helpful
• You may want to discuss how your cultural background or religion is important to your understanding of your wellbeing
• You can wear glasses if the room is too bright, or wear earplugs or headphones if you need to reduce background noise
• You can use fidget toys, sit on the floor or move about during your session if that helps you to concentrate
• If you have a health passport, you may like to bring one with you, or we can send you one to complete ahead of session.

If you feel any adaptations are necessary, please indicate this when completing your self-referral form at the appropriate point or mention to your GP if they are referring you. This will help us establish any necessary adaptations from your first appointment where possible. We will also ask about barriers in your initial assessment, and we welcome you to discuss it with us then.

Any changes that we make can be reviewed throughout treatment if you feel that there is something else that we need to know.

All of our staff receive training and access to guidance on supporting a diverse range of individuals and helping everyone in a respectful and person-centered way.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Champion

We have an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Champion, who works closely with the broader Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team to align our work with the Trust values. 

If you have any queries, you can contact them at whcnhs.webelong@nhs.net with the subject line ‘Talking Therapies EDI’.

Learning styles

If you can, we would like you to tell us how you learn best as this will help us to tailor your treatment to your individual needs. For example, you may prefer visual to audio resources or wish to make notes to refer back to. Please speak to the clinicians involved in your care for more information.