Reda Mishinga, a postgraduate students at the School of Public Health, has won the Royal Society of Public Health's essay competition.

Reda’s submission examined the deaf community in the UK and their access, or lack of, to mental health services.

According to the essay, the marginalisation of the Deaf community from mental health services stems from a language barrier. Reda, who is currently enrolled on the Master of Public Health course, found that there is an expectation that Deaf people will have some understanding of English, whilst their preferred method of communication is British Sign Language and there is a lack of up-to-date data around the issue. Consequently, this has an impact on the way Clinical Commissioning Groups make decisions on tailored care.

Reda’s essay entitled ‘Marginal voices – A quest to improve mental health diagnosis among the Deaf community in the UK’ will be published in the May issue of the journal ‘Perspectives in Public Health’.

On receiving the award Reda said: “I chose to write about a topic that is close to my heart and something I knew a bit about. My previous internship with a charity called SignHealth focused on mental health disorders in the community that lead to suicide.

“The experience from the Master of Public Health helped me to write my essay, specifically learning how to conduct epidemiological research and developing an understanding of public health practice and improving access to healthcare.

“I was only able to get the proper inspiration for my essay after I spoke to a member of staff, Dr Henock Taddese, who not only helped me refine the topic but was kind enough to review it and support me throughout.

“Being told I had won was not something I was expecting, so once it sunk in the feeling was unmeasurable.”