IA2493 Communicator Guide Service Flexible Framework

This Service Specification is for the provision of a Communicator Guide Service (the Service) to be delivered across Staffordshire, excluding Stoke on Trent. The Service will provide Communication Guides to individuals who have been assessed by the Referrer as having an assessed eligible need and has been referred into the Service. The Service Provider(s) are required to: i. manage assessment outcomes and maximise Service User independence. ii. provide a suitable form of communication for the Service User. iii. ensure that support promotes Service User independence. iv. ensure the Service User is aware of their options and ways they can access their community and any additional support available from groups and companies, in their community. v. understand and promote opportunities to the Service User within the local marketplace. Communicator Guides will offer support to Eligible Adults (aged 18 and above) with Sensory Needs who may have been born with sight loss or have been Deaf since birth or early childhood and subsequently acquired a Dual Sensory Loss or have acquired a Dual Sensory Loss later in life. The incidence of Dual Sensory Loss is greatest in older people who have acquired both sight loss and hearing Loss (1 in 20 of Deafblind people with Dual Sensory Loss are aged 70 and older). Communicator Guides will also support Deaf people where they have complex needs around access to information, communication, language and accessing the wider community.