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Welcome to this week's Independent Living newsletter
27.04.16 Contents:
Animal Magic!
Shared Lives
Carer's Voice
They feel your pain!
Derek's View – accessible toilets
Latest Updates – New Code from CECOPS
1. Animal Magic!

As promised last week, we have an engaging article about the therapeutic benefits of pet animals. 

Independent Living's nutrition guru, Mary Farmer, is also a volunteer with the organisation Pets As Therapy (PAT), taking her golden retriever on welcome visits to elderly care home residents, and assessing other dogs as suitable PAT volunteers.

She has written an account of some of her own experiences of introducing her pet to the front line of nursing care, both officially and unofficially, also taking a look at the history of animal therapy – which is rather longer than you might think.

You can read her article, Animal Magic, here

 

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2. Shared Lives

The arbitrary line between spending on health care and social care has been thoroughly analysed and lamented over. Due amongst other things to the historical accident of an NHS with responsibility for health, whose budget is separate from the resources dedicated to social care, we have the situation we now find ourselves in, where the relatively better resourced health service is trying to cope with the fallout from the cuts to local authority budgets.

So-called bed blocking is one example – where people who could be at home are instead obliged to remain in hospital for want of proper support in the community.

Shared Lives is a concept whereby people who can't live alone are matched with appropriate carers, either living with them on a long or short term basis, or visiting them very regularly. NHS England is investing £1.75 million in the scheme, in the hope of moving more care out of hospitals. Many current clients have learning disabilities, but increasingly, it is being extended to people with dementia, mental health problems, and those needing support during a period of rehabilitation. Find out more about Shared Lives here

 

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3. Carer's Voice

I am sure you have been waiting impatiently as I have for more of Laura Graham's account of becoming a carer, when her mother had a major stroke more than three years ago.

Well the next instalment of Carer's Voice is now available, and it focuses on the challenging transition from post-stroke recuperation in hospital to returning home. It isn't always comfortable reading – their experience highlights many problems with care, particularly for older patients, within the NHS.

I don't want to pre-empt Laura's account, so do please carry on reading here, then let me know what you think, either by posting a comment under her article, or emailing me.

 

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4. They Feel Your Pain!

When I wrote about accessible housing a couple of weeks ago, it generated quite a lot of reaction on social media, one theme being that people describing places as "accessible" clearly haven't any experience of restricted mobility or other impairments. Someone suggested that architects should be made to try getting round their buildings in a wheelchair – which probably would bump inclusivity of design a bit higher up the agenda!

Well so should this new development in wearable technology. Healthcare and design students at Brunel University London put on "age suits" before trying to do everyday things, like buying a cup of coffee or playing cards. The suits create the pain and fatigue associated with age, limiting mobility and providing the effects of sensory impairment. The students find the effect overwhelming – particularly the social isolation brought about when you are too exhausted by daily living to engage with other people.  Hopefully the memories will remain powerful and inform their future work. More here

 

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5. Derek's View – accessible toilets

Regular readers will know that accessible toilets are a topic the editor covers quite regularly.

Having got my head round the difference between disabled toilets and Changing Places, which are fully accessible, I now have to contend with a new idea: Space to Change toilets. Apparently, I am not alone in being confused!

The diagram here, from the World of Accessible Toilets blog (you knew there had to be one!) shows that one main difference is size. A standard wheelchair accessible facility is only about a quarter of the size of a Changing Places toilet, with Space to Change lying somewhere in between.

Required equipment is another variable. There is a good explanation of all that goes into a Changing Places here. And the new standard, Space to Change, was thought up by campaigners as a solution when councils and businesses say they just don't have the room or the money for a full Changing Places. It must include a hoist and adult-sized changing bench, and you can read more details about it here.

 

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6. Latest Updates - New Code from CECOPS

This is one for anyone with an interest in the assessment or provision of disability equipment, including specialist seating and wheelchairs, and home adaptations. Getting the right equipment in place - and quickly - is more important than ever, as budgets for providing care support are squeezed, and appropriate aids to mobility and daily living can bridge the gap between managing independently or not.

CECOPS, the Community Equipment Code of Practice Scheme, has a new Code of Practice out for disability equipment, which can be used in many ways: as a general guide, for tendering services, monitoring performance, managing risk and ensuring regulatory compliance. It sets a national benchmark against which services can be measured, as well as a realistic level of service people should expect to receive.

If you provide high quality products and services, and you would like to reach our site visitors and newsletter readers, please email derek@independentliving.co.uk

If you have something you'd like to get off your chest, don't forget our Readers' Letters. Share your thoughts with the rest of the Independent Living community... 

As always, there are various ways you can get in touch with Independent Living: email me; visit our Facebook page and leave a message there; or if it's short and sweet, Tweet!

Previous newsletters are archived here.

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Until next time, all good wishes,

Frances

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Frances Leckie
Editor

e: editor @ independentliving.co.uk
t: +44 (0) 208 133 0628
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