Support for sensory impairment

Sensory impairment means having difficulties with sight, hearing, or both.

You may have a sight impairment if you wear glasses, are partially sighted or registered blind. If you use a hearing aid or have trouble hearing conversations, you may have a hearing impairment.

Some people experience dual sensory loss, which is when both sight and hearing are affected. You do not need to have completely lost your sight or hearing to receive support—many people have varying levels of impairment and can still benefit from our services.

What the Sensory Impairment Team does

Brent Adult Social Care’s Sensory Impairment Team helps adults in the borough who are:

• deaf or hard of hearing
• blind or partially sighted
• living with dual sensory impairment

Our aim is to help you stay as independent, safe, and connected as possible. We do this by offering tailored support that focuses on your specific needs. We work with you, your family or carer, and other services to give you choice and control over your life.

Work out what help you need

You may want to get in touch with the Sensory Impairment Team if you're finding everyday tasks difficult because of sight or hearing loss. Perhaps you're starting to feel less safe at home, or you're struggling to get out and about, communicate with others, or access important information.

Support can also be helpful if you're feeling isolated or unsure about what equipment or services might make life easier. 

Our online self-assessment is a digital questionnaire that allows you to assess your own care and support needs at a time and place that suits you. It guides you through several areas and helps you to identify areas where you might need more help.

At the end, you can submit your assessment report to our Adult Social Care team. They will then contact you to find out more about your situation and will consider whether you would benefit from a full care needs assessment.

How our team can help

Using the report from your self-assessment, the Sensory Impairment Team will work with you to better understand how your sensory impairment affects your day-to-day life.  Following your assessment, we may offer:

• Specialist equipment to help you hear, see, or communicate more easily.
• Support at home, including practical help with daily tasks.
• Classes in braille and advice on accessible technology and devices.
• Links to local community groups and NHS services for extra support.

Even if you don’t meet the national eligibility threshold for ongoing care, we can still give you advice, information, and signposting to other useful services.

Whatever your situation, you don’t have to wait until things become unmanageable—early support can make a big difference. We will talk through your situation and arrange an assessment if needed.

Help to stay independent at home

Many people with sensory loss want to live safely and independently at home. There are many different products and tools that can help, like:

• flashing or vibrating alarms and doorbells
• amplified phones
• lifeline alarms and monitoring systems

AskSARA is an online tool that gives you advice about equipment and products that can make everyday life easier. It provides impartial advice about suitable products and technology solutions that can help you to live independently and maintain your lifestyle.

Help to get around

If you find it difficult to get out and about because of a sensory impairment, there are services that can make travel easier and more accessible.

The Blue Badge scheme offers parking concessions for people with severe mobility difficulties, helping you park closer to your destination.

You may also be eligible for the Disabled Person’s Freedom Pass, which allows free travel on London’s public transport and local bus services.