Advancing Access to Behavioral Health Care for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Coloradans

 


The Colorado Daylight Project, a collaborative effort lead by the Mental Health Center of Denver and the Colorado Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, is designed to provide assistance to Colorado publically funded behavioral healthcare providers who want to advance access to behavioral health services to Coloradans who are deaf and hard of hearing.  

The project is collaborating with publicly funded behavioral healthcare providers throughout Colorado to leverage expertise in working with deaf and hard of hearing persons and create opportunities for cross-training and sharing resources.

The Colorado Daylight Project has successfully employed a strategic systems approach to create statewide accessible behavioral health care to people who are deaf and hard of hearing with the value on consumer choice for communication access.

The Colorado Daylight Project promotes best practices by taking a multi-level systems approach to:

  • Provide accessible and appropriate services to deaf and hard of hearing consumers
  • Develop service delivery strategies that minimize cost while improving outcomes
  • Partner through telebehavioral health to create a shared services model with other providers and throughout the state
  • Use technology for communication access

  Find us on Facebook 

Colorado Daylight Project Provides Hope to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Coloradoans

CO Daylight Project

Here’s what happened to one hard of hearing consumer at a participating Colorado Daylight mental health center. He was struggling to participate in his individual and group therapy sessions and his doctor appointments due to his hearing loss. Through the Colorado Daylight Project, his mental health center received hearing assistive equipment for use in his services with them. Using this amplification equipment enhanced his participation in treatment and has given him more motivation and hope for the future. An added benefit was the opportunity to use the telephone adapter to speak with his children whose voices he has not heard for many years.

Hearing assistive technology is one of the many resources made available to community mental health centers through the Colorado Daylight Project, a collaboration lead by the Mental Health Center of Denver and the Colorado Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to ensure access to behavioral healthcare for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. 
 
"It's amazing. I wish more programs had this technology available. I can hear and it's put me on the same level with others and boosted my self-esteem, " says the grateful father. Now he uses the device to stay connected with his kids on the phone. "It's given me hope for the future, especially when it comes to my children."
 
Last year the Colorado Daylight Project provided training and technical assistance to eight behavioral health organizations throughout the state. 

Who We Are, What We Do

In 2008, the Colorado Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing convened a team of stakeholders from mental health, substance abuse, adult and aging services, deaf and hard of hearing education, and consumer and family advocacy organizations. The Task Force developed an Action Plan where Goals, Strategies, and Actions center around a statewide system build on three essential legs.

 

 

Funding and Support

The Colorado Daylight Project began with funding by the Colorado Work’s Statewide Strategic use Fund, Colorado Division of Behavioral Health, the Colorado Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Mental Health Center of Denver. We have continued funding from the Colorado Division of Behavioral Health.

 

Contact the Colorado Daylight Project