Welcome to this week's Independent Living newsletter. 15.06.22 Contents:
• Post-stroke support delay
• Activity Alliance survey
• Fall prevention webinar
• Kidz to Adultz West
• Disabled Workers' Cooperative
• Community equipment returns
1. Post-stroke support delay
How hard should it be to access the care that you need?
A particularly shocking case has been adjudicated on by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, where the woman concerned was left for 12 months without her care package following a stroke, in part because her disability left her unable to fill in and sign forms...
The national charity, Activity Alliance, has released its latest Annual Disability and Activity Survey. It shows slow progress in engaging more disabled people after the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is a growing disparity between the experiences of disabled and non-disabled people, with the former considerably more likely to feel that they can't be as active as they want to be, due to a range of different obstacles.
Fall prevention is always a hot topic on Independent Living, as it affects so many people. In any year, half of those aged over 80 have a fall, and one in three of those over 65.
Most falls happen in the bathroom or toilet area, and Closomat's latest webinar focuses on why this is, and what can be done to improve the situation.
The latest in the series of Kidz to Adultz events is coming up on 7th July.
It's being held at ICC Wales on the Celtic Manor Resort for the first time. The venue is fully accessible, a two minute drive from the M4 and very well connected to mainline train stations.
Kidz to Adultz Wales and West provides easy access for people from South Wales, South Gloucestershire, and for visitors coming from Bristol, Cornwall, Devon and further down the South West coast.
After a two-year gap, I was pleased when the newsletter from the Disabled Workers' Cooperative popped up in my inbox.
The charity was founded 20 years ago, with the object of improving the independence of disabled people by giving them routes into employment and self-employment.
Their database of disabled freelancers and an eJobs portal where companies can post vacancies makes it easier for jobseekers and employers to find each other.
Have you been left with assistive equipment that you don't know how or where to return? Mobility and daily living aids are frequently handed out to people on a temporary basis, after an accident or operation, for example.
They rarely come with instructions about how to give them back so that they can be used again.
Occupational Therapy MSc student Helen Coulson is conducting a survey to help improve the process and therefore the sustainability of OT practices. It closes at the end of this month - please take part if you can! More details here
Don't forget that you can apply to join the Independent Living Facebook group, if you would like to spend more time discussing these themes with other interested people.
There are various ways you can get in touch with us: email me; visit our Facebook page and leave a message there; or if it's short and sweet, Tweet!
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