Specific Activities

 

 

SHIONOGI is a sponsor of the 25th Summer Deaflympics Tokyo 2025.

Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics Website (link to an external website)

 

第25回夏季デフリンピック競技大会 東京2025

What activities are conducted in the Communication Barrier-Free Project?

Project framework (Click to view)

For better communication with employees

Creating a comfortable working environment for hearing-impaired employees

  • Holding awareness-raising seminars
  • Introducing UD Talk and other useful tools
  • Fostering a culture where ensuring access to information for hearing-impaired employees is the norm
  • Establishing an information assurance system

Creating a system to tackle issues together with employees

  • Developing employees’ understanding and involving them in the activities through the CBF Supporter program, the CBF Fan Club, caravan campaigns, etc.
  • Increasing the number of employees who take part in activities to eliminate communication barriers regarding medication through their work

Information assurance will be provided to hearing-impaired employees

The diversity of employees will contribute to improving the productivity of SHIONOGI

For better communication between healthcare professionals and patients
For healthcare professionals

Developing healthcare professionals’ understanding of the characteristics of hearing-impaired people, the difficulties faced by them, and how to communicate with them

  • Holding awareness-raising seminars
  • Creating and distributing awareness-raising materials
  • Improving healthcare professionals’ knowledge about hearing impairments
  • Allowing healthcare professionals to understand how to communicate with hearing-impaired patients
  • Enabling healthcare professionals to provide appropriate care for hearing-impaired patients
For patients

Developing patients’ understanding of the need for appropriate medical treatment and medication

  • Creating and distributing educational materials
  • Creating and distributing communication tools
  • Allowing patients to inform healthcare professionals of their preferred communication style

Healthcare professionals will be able to communicate appropriately with hearing-impaired patients

Communication barriers regarding patients’ medication will be removed, and their access to medicinal information will be improved

This project has introduced a social impact assessment* to visualize the impact that activities have on society.

*Social impact assessment: Quantitatively and qualitatively monitoring the social and environmental outcomes of a business or activity, including short- and medium-term changes and evaluating the business or activity. (Source: SIMI Global Resource Center [link to an external website])

*Information assurance: Providing information through alternative means to people who are unable to obtain sufficient information due to disabilities or for other reasons

For better communication with employees

This project comprises a variety of initiatives to eliminate barriers in the workplace caused by disabilities, both in tangible and intangible terms, with the aim of maximizing the performance of each employee.
Tangible improvements Intangible improvements
Activities in usual times Emergency preparedness activities For managers

For all employees

(including those with hearing impairments)

動画画面Adding subtitles to the videos of the president’s message to employees

 

研修施設写真Introducing universal design to training facilities

 

UDトークバナー
Open in a new window (link to an external website)
Using the UD Talk® app (real-time speech-to-text app)

 

Establishing a disability support consultation desk

コミュニケーションツールDeveloping and distributing emergency communication tools

 

非常用トイレライトInstalling emergency toilet lights

(Hearing-impaired people rely heavily on their vision to obtain information. When a power outage restricts their vision, it becomes difficult for them to grasp the situation, causing them serious worries. In an emergency, these lights will turn on, making it easier to obtain visual information.)

ガイダンス写真
Training given by experts to the superiors of employees with disabilities

(Theme: Reasonable accommodation)

 

イメージ画像
All manager training

(Introduction to reasonable accommodation)

 

● Training name: Reasonable accommodation training: Universal Manners Test Level 3

● Number of trainees who completed the entire program in 2024: 561

イメージ画像
Raising employee awareness throughout the company and in each organization

(Developing employees’ understanding of hearing impairments and providing them with introductory information about the project)

 

コミュニケーションツールCommunication tools useful for reasonable accommodation as well

 

イメージ画像UD Talk briefing session

Data on internal activities (FY2015–FY2024)

To date, we have been educating employees by creating various opportunities for them to become aware of and learn about the difficulties faced by people with disabilities, how to deal with them, and reasonable accommodations. Currently, together with our Special Supporters, we are also working to improve the working environment.
CBFファン、1050名（全社員20%）
スペシャルサポーター、101名
UDトークアプリ登録者、950名
[Definitions]
CBF Fans: Readers of the CBF email newsletter
CBF Special Supporters: Employees who have attended the CBF SHIONOGI School and can explain the significance of CBF in their own words

For better communication between healthcare professionals and patients

Holding awareness-raising seminars for healthcare professionals and medical university students

Since 2017, we have been holding seminars in which hearing-impaired employees act as instructors to raise awareness of the characteristics of hearing-impaired people and desirable ways to communicate with them. Since the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, we have also been holding online seminars and devising effective activities to deliver information to more healthcare professionals. Since 2022, we have been holding new awareness-raising seminars for medical university students, who will be responsible for healthcare in the future. We are therefore working to eliminate communication barriers from a medium- to long-term perspective.

To a question about the content of the awareness-raising seminar, 96%*1 of participants responded that they could apply it to their work. We will continue to provide information that will help healthcare professionals communicate appropriately with hearing-impaired patients.

 

*1 From a survey of participants in the awareness-raising seminar

啓発セミナーに参加した医療従事者数のグラフ ※各年度の合計
[Comment from a medical student]

I learned that the communication methods I thought were correct were not necessarily correct.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Comment from a university faculty member]

The first step as a medical professional is to realize the reality that being able to hear is not a given. There are not many opportunities to hear from people with hearing impairments, so this lecture was very useful in raising awareness of this.

 

 

 

 

 

[Comment from a university faculty member]
In today's world, providing detailed information that takes into account the patient's characteristics and situation leads to improved appropriate medication adherence. This is an opportunity to learn communication methods that respond to the diverse backgrounds of patients and to think about how medical care should be provided while respecting the patient's position.