Dominique Harding, adult peer support specialist at Bridgehaven Mental Health Services, hopes to help “bridge the gap” between the deaf and hard of hearing with the “hearing.” With his role in a new program at this Louisville mental health organization, he gets a chance to strive for exactly that.
Individuals with hearing loss or deafness tend to face additional barriers when accessing the mental health care they need. A new partnership between Bridgehaven and state departments wants to change that.
By partnering with the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services program within the Department for Behavioral Health and Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, Bridgehaven is expanding access to various mental health services in the deaf and hard of hearing community.
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700,000 Kentuckians have hearing loss
Brad Leedy, chief operating officer at Bridgehaven, said many members of the deaf and hard of hearing community also experience mental illness but encounter other barriers that make services more inaccessible.
“There are about 700,000 Kentuckians that have some form of hearing loss, whether they consider themselves hard of hearing or deaf,” Leedy said. “If you look at the national statistics, 1 in 4 folks have a severe mental illness, and 1 in 5 have some sort of a mental illness. It may not be severe, but you’re looking at some still pretty significant numbers with the intersection of those two statistics.”
He said those who need the services might not get the proper support due to barriers like communication, which can be very isolating. “(They) may not be seeking the service because they have encountered other barriers, so it’s hard to continue to put yourself out there if you don’t get the services that you need,” Leedy said. “Also, they’re kind of in a unique position where their mental illness may be isolating them but then also their hearing loss might be isolating them.”
Breaking down communication barriers
Harding, a hard-of-hearing individual, explained the frustrations behind communication barriers commonly faced in the deaf community. While he learned ASL at a young age to communicate with his “hearing” family, Harding said he also relies heavily on visuals, such as reading lips, facial expressions and body language to communicate with people.
“From my past experience, you get the feeling of isolating and loneliness when somebody misunderstood you,” he said. “It’s really hard. I just don’t think anybody will understand what that person is going through unless they go through it themselves, they got to put their foot into the shoes and experience it.”
Harding and Stewart Bridgman, president and CEO at Bridgehaven, both mentioned disparities in access to hearing aids, which can cost thousands of dollars, as a barrier to accessing services. Harding said insurance often doesn’t cover them, and he had to pay $3,000 out of pocket for his most recent set.
According to Kentuckiana ENT, the average cost of hearing aids in Louisville is anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000. Furthermore, over-the-counter hearing aids became available for sale in 2022, but range in price from $99 to over $3,000 per pair. These prices are expected to drop as more manufacturers enter the market, according to the National Council on Aging.
Additionally, hearing aids aren’t guaranteed to work. According to HearingResearch.org, a deaf person may or may not be able to hear with hearing aids, or see any improvement in hearing. “Because deafness can include people with severe and profound hearing loss when a person has lost virtually all use of their hearing ability, a special type of hearing aid may help them regain their hearing ability.”
If such “super” or “power” hearing aids are ineffective, cochlear implants are a possible alternative. However, costs can range from $50,000 to $100,000. While covered at least in part by private insurance companies, Medicaid and Medicare, out-of-pocket expenses could be costly, according to Duke University.
With around $90,000 in funding from partners in the state department, as well as discounted prices for interpreters through the American Sign Language Interpreting Services (ASLIS), Bridgman said the new implementations will be sustainable, and they hope to help as many people in the deaf and hard of hearing community as possible.
Bridgehaven’s services
Bridgman described Bridgehaven, a mental health institution founded in 1958, as a “gymnasium for someone’s mind.”
At the institution, various treatments are available including psychiatric rehabilitation, cognitive enhancement therapy, peer specialist support and more. As part of the therapeutic rehabilitation process, classes on various topics are offered, as well as music and art therapy.
Bridgman emphasized the importance of peer specialists, who often collaborate with psychiatrists and therapists to enhance treatment and ensure its effectiveness, and have mental diagnoses of their own.
“One of the barriers to recovery is the fact that there are professionals who don’t really understand the diagnosis, they haven’t experienced it themselves,” he said. “We think it’s really important to have peers on our staff because our peers are helping us make sure that our programs are effective. They know what’s been effective because of their own life experience.”
Harding, a peer specialist, will help guide the deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals seeking services in various settings, co-leading groups, and talking with people in one-on-ones.
“I’m the best of both worlds,” Harding said. “I can communicate with the hearing but also, I can communicate with the deaf and hard of hearing.”
Bridgman said ASL interpreters are also readily available for one’s comfort, as well as formalities such as intake.
“We want them to be able to communicate in a way that allows them to be themselves at their most,” he said. Each treatment plan will also be unique to the individual.
Harding is the only peer support specialist for the program at the Louisville location, 950 S. 1st St. Others work remotely, making the program accessible to more Kentuckians.
‘A beacon of hope’
While Bridgehaven has only received about five referrals so far for the program, Bridgman said staff is ready to accommodate 30 to 50+ people and will adjust as needed if larger amounts express interest.
“By adding a new group of people that we’ve never served before and learning about them and their culture, I think that gives Bridgehaven another chance to experience (a) different culture, learn something new, and we go into it with the idea that it’s a collaboration so that we can make the agency better,” Bridgman said.
Harding has “great confidence” in the new services and is excited to help people, which he explained is his passion. By sharing his personal story, he hopes others can better themselves and learn the skills of courage, resilience and dedication needed to manage one’s mental health.
“I want them to realize that you really have to go through dark times to get to the light times, better times. You’ve got to tell yourself better days are coming, you can get through this, you’re not alone,” he said.
“It won’t happen overnight but everyone with deaf or hard of hearing will see them (Bridgehaven) as a beacon of hope,” Harding said. “This is the only mental institution that I know of that is doing this type of work, and they really really do care about the community. I’m glad to be a part of this team.”