developing a campaign to safeguard rehabilitation services for visually impaired people philip j...
TRANSCRIPT
Developing a campaign to safeguard rehabilitation
services for visually impaired people
Philip J Connolly
RNIB Group
UK Vision Strategy
• 2.2 - Services should be person-centred and create seamless pathways through health, social care and the voluntary sector
• 2.3 - Eye care and sight loss services should include emotional support as an integrated part of the service.
• 2.4 - The traditional model of rehabilitation should be reviewed to ensure that the support package provided meets the needs of modern living.
RNIB Business Plan• Goal 4: Blind and partially sighted
people have access to person-centred support that assists independence.
• Targets:• Increase in numbers of people aware of
services. • Define and deliver RNIB core services across
UK. • Ensure appropriate levels of support and
income.
Reasons for a campaign now• Government imposed cuts in local government
spending - 28.4% over four years• Ageing population - increased levels of sight loss• Undiagnosed and thus possibly unmet need e.g.
one in three people with a learning difficulty also has sight loss
• Demographic and physical factors undermining levels of social capital
• Campaigning works - Norwich, Warwickshire and Bristol are just three places that have seen planned cuts reduced or abandoned
Dialogue held in developing this campaign
• Meetings have been held with AfBP, GDBA, LGIU, ADASS, etc
• Meetings with key individuals such as Professor Luke Clements
• Attendance in meetings with rehabilitation officers and local society representatives
• Commitment to meetings with all other stakeholders both committed and potential
Campaign vision
• "See it my way" UK Vision Strategy
• Question
• Of the ten points is their one that speaks for all the others or is most symbolic?
Campaign objectives • 1) Secure common recognition across UK local
authorities of the importance of time limited but not time prescribed approach
• 2) Secure adoption of a "Eyecare Pathway" that embodies this approach but other best practice too especially in techcare and emotional support
• 3) Ensure that equality impact assessments adequately reflect the challenge people with sight loss face and that methods of consultation are appropriate to their communication needs
• 4) safeguard access to specialist rehabilitation services• The Campaign will involve and change all key
stakeholders, its development needs input of all
Rehabilitation reviewed• Technology and its application to bathing,
cooking, reading, safety, mobility and communication
• Access to benefits advice• New relationships between the stakeholders and
incentivised where possible to ensure relationships function
• Increased emphasis on social capital • New emphasis on disability resilience• Need for stakeholders to lead change and not
follow it
Social capital• Putnam, "Bowling Alone" 2000• Two types - bridging and bonding• Need to ensure clients are aware of support
groups, charities and community organisations and of their interest in the clients social and physical welfare
• Need to also address this using technology as a media WHERE APPROPRIATE e.g. a disability version of appropedia
• Question - what else is possible to enhance a client's social capital?
A disability resilience belief system
Promoting self worth and psychological
adaptation through a twelve step
programme - note some steps may be
needed but others could be bypassed it
would be for the client to decide. Lessons
could be drawn down from the work on
psychological first aid, research connected
to the lexical hypothesis and appropriate
resources developed accordingly.
• .
Disability resilience - the subject of research for a long time now
• Allport and Odbert (1936) - roots of self definition • Cattell (1946) - the sixteen personality factors (PF)• Norman (1963) - five factors more significant• "Psychological and social adjustment of blind
subjects and the (Cattell) 16 PF" (1978)
Greenhough, Keegan, Davies and Ash
"Journal of Psychology" Vol 34, Issue 1, pp84-87
Psychological first aid - a new emerging evidence base
Some suggestions - suggestions only - First three steps
1) service to others especially sighted people,
• 2) belief in a higher power how ever the person wishes to define this
• 3) willingness to accept help e.g. mentoring from other VIPs but especially to welcome this from people we don't know
Further suggestions - suggestions only
- steps four to six • 4) commitment to self-development
through the acquisition of disability specific skills
• 5) willingness to seek and accept responsibility especially for finding out advice or information at first hand
• 6) to feel good about the way we look even if we cannot see how we look
Further suggestions - suggestions only - steps six to nine
• 7) to influence changes in society to bring about a more inclusive future but to appreciate that that future is a product of a permanent now
• 8) willingness to communicate our needs but also to find how helping others to meet their needs and this can be done to mutual benefit too
• 9) understanding that most humour stems from the gap between what we aim for and what we achieve and thus disability or long term illnesses can be a creative well for humour
Further suggestions - suggestions only - steps nine to twelve
• 10) willingness to accept and share pain, suffering and disappointment as part of life, birth and death are often characterised by these feelings and emotions but they provide a connection to others and can even be transcended on occasion
• 11) equal willingness to celebrate be it a religious festival, own birthday, the achievement of someone else etc
• 12) willingness to take risks in a supportive environment
Reflection on disability resilience
• Questions• Are these the right steps - what beliefs in
your experience contribute to individuals making the best use of their remaining sight and/or their other capabilities?
• What is the evidence base?• How do we help individuals to uncover
these qualities and what short cuts to doing this are available to us?
Key stakeholders and relationships
• Client - asked to evaluate rehabilitation impact• ROVI asked to develop improved referral routes• Local societies asked to lobby lead members• ADASS physical disabilities group asked to
challenge technology industries • Charities asked to co-ordinate, track progress and
develop the evidence base, with local societies and especially on unmet needs
• Additional allies sought e.g. Age UK• Questions - are the expectations fair and how do we
ensure the relationships are of mutual benefit
Campaign targets• Objective 1 from slide 6 - subject to current
baseline study secure a marked percentage increase
• Objective 2 from slide 6 - secure three quarters of local authorities adopt the "Eyecare Pathway" developed in a time frame befitting their own commitment to review
• Objective 3 from slide 6 to be addressed by the legal rights departments of charities
• Objective 4 from slide 6 - monitor unmet need and support individual rights to services, target to be agreed with our service impact and legal rights teams
Target audiences and target supporters
• Lead members of local authorities responsible for equalities and those responsible for adult social care will be the key target audience
• Target supporters will be clients, their relatives, older people organisations, carers organisations etc but key will be local societies support
Campaign activities 1
• Letter sent to local authorities on 21/09/11 - some 180 replies to date
• Meetings being organised with those offering them - Nov - Jan 2012
• Meetings to be sought with those not responding - Jan - end of Feb 2012
• "Eyecare Pathway" document developed and launched
• To be sent to local authorities and all other stakeholders - forums for reflection and persuasion requested
Campaign activities 2
• Evaluation of the uptake of the "Eyecare Pathway" document - April to Sept or Dec 2012
• Question
• What are the extents of stakeholders concerns, e.g., what is the depth of the concerns, what campaign activities are appropriate means of persuasion and what activities would command support?
Reviewing the campaign, learning the lessons and moving onwards and upwards
• A review of the campaign will be conducted in April 2013
• Questions
• Is there anything that would prompt a review earlier than this?
• If the campaign targets are reached what circumstances may require the campaign to continue?
