Resource for deaf and hard of hearing gym users

Previous monitoring figures from the IFI shows that deaf and hard of hearing people across the impairment groups have the lowest membership and participation figures. One of the barriers includes a limited amount of useful information. To help break down this barrier for people with this impairment when accessing the gym, the Inclusive Fitness Initiative has worked alongside one of the National Disability Sport Organisations (NDSOs), UK Deaf Sport, to create a useful resource.  

It has been noted in many reports that deaf and hard of hearing people feel marginalised because of their communication needs. This resource provides IFI facilities with useful tips on how to adapt communication to be more inclusive and accessible to deaf customers within a gym environment. Also how to market a facility to engage with deaf and hard of hearing people in the local community.

The fact sheet will form a series of resources to be included within the resource and marketing sections of our website. They will support people with different impairments more proactively and give useful tips for all elements of the Inclusive Fitness journey. This includes- access, pricing policies, health and safety, marketing, training, equipment, suppliers, sports development and so on.

This is all about sharing good practice among IFI gyms. So if you have any ideas or examples of better practice that have worked well then we would love to share it with other inclusive gyms.  Contact Jules Twells or call 01509 227750

You can visit the Inclusive Fitness Initiative section of our website too.