Search results for ‘Subject term:"physical disabilities"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 8 of 8
Personalisation briefing: implications for occupational therapists in social care
- Author:
- SOCIAL CARE INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE
- Publisher:
- Social Care Institute for Excellence
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 5p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This briefing examines the implications of the personalisation agenda for occupational therapists. Personalisation for occupational therapists in social care means: understanding and embracing the social model of disability; providing choice, control and a person-centred approach to assessment/review and delivery of support and services. A number of brief case studies illustrate the ways in which occupational therapists can support personalisation.
An inquiry into the emotional impact of sight loss and the counselling experiences and needs of blind and partially sighted people
- Author:
- THURSTON Mhairi
- Journal article citation:
- Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 10(1), March 2010, pp.3-12.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
While the link between sight loss and depression is well documented, dedicated counselling services for visually impaired people remain scarce, and research into the effectiveness of psychological interventions is mainly anecdotal rather than evidence based. This paper explores the emotional impact of visual impairment in four core areas (mood, self concept, social connectedness and loss), and explores the counselling experiences and needs of blind and partially sighted adults. Data was collected from 18 individuals using the mental health and social functioning sub-scales of the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 and semi-structured interviews. Results indicated that participants with a serious eye condition shared a common transition from sight to blindness: diagnosis; coping with deterioration of sight; experiencing loss in different areas of life; experiencing changed perceptions of self in relation to society; experiencing others in a changed way; and experiencing rehabilitation. Participants indicated negative perceptions of counselling and a general lack of counselling opportunities. In conclusion, there is a need for counselling after diagnosis of visual impairment. Specific challenges facing those who deliver counselling to blind and partially sighted clients are discussed.
Employability trajectories among new claimants of Incapacity Benefit
- Authors:
- KEMP Peter A., DAVIDSON Jacqueline
- Journal article citation:
- Policy Studies, 31(2), March 2010, pp.203-221.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Incapacity Benefits (IB) were replaced in October 2008 with the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). This was done on the assumption that it would be a temporary benefit for the majority of people who claim it. After an initial medical assessment, new ESA claimants are allocated to one of two groups: those who have less severe or temporary conditions are allocated to the work related Activity Group, and are required to take active steps to prepare for a return to employment; and those considered to be severely disabled are allocated to the Support Group and are not expected to undertake work-related activities. This article examines the implications of the distinction between those claimants who potentially could do paid work and those for whom that outcome is much less likely. The authors, drawing upon baseline and follow-up surveys, examine the employment status trajectories of 1,843 new IB claimants in the year following their claim. The article examines three specific questions: who returns to work and what factors are associated with that outcome; how employable are the people who do not return to work and does their employability change during the first year of their claim; and among those who remained on IB after a year, what distinguishes people who classify themselves as permanently unable to work from those who do not? The article concludes with a discussion of the main findings, notably that location was a major factor in finding employment, and their implications for policy.
From Incapacity Benefit to Employment and Support Allowance: social sorting, sickness and impairment, and social security
- Authors:
- GROVER Chris, PIGGOTT Linda
- Journal article citation:
- Policy Studies, 31(2), March 2010, pp.265-282.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This commentary examines the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) as a replacement for the main income replacement benefit, Incapacity Benefit (IB), for sick and/or disabled people in Britain. The authors argue that the process of claiming ESA, a process that is dependent upon medicalised perceptions of capability to work and which is aimed at managing the perceived economic and social costs of sick and disabled people, is a means of sorting sick and/or disabled people into subgroups of claimants. The authors go on to discuss the implications of their observations with regard to explanations of the disadvantages that sick and/or disabled people face and their implications for the income of such people. The authors conclude that because the shift from IB to ESA is premised upon a number of mistaken assumptions (such as the majority of claimants abusing the system by overstating the effect of their sickness or disability), it represents a retrograde development for people who are sick and/or who have impairments, potentially leaving a lot more claimants financially impoverished than under the old IB system.
Hearing the voices of disabled students in higher education
- Authors:
- VICKERMAN Philip, BLUNDELL Milly
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 25(1), January 2010, pp.21-32.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper reports on a study of the lived in experiences and perspectives of disabled students during attendance at a higher education (HE) establishment in northern United Kingdom. Using questionnaires, the views of 504 students, taking physical education, sport, dance and outdoor education classes, of their transition from induction, course delivery, barriers to learning, through to employability were recorded and followed by face-to-face interviews with four students who had indicated that they had physical or learning (including dyslexia) disabilities. The authors report work is needed to level HE experiences for disabled students and highlight five issues to be addressed in order to enable their access and entitlement rights as detailed in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001, and the Disability Equality Duty (DED) 2006. Firstly, the authors recommend the provision of pre-course inclusion support, which will at least encourage more students to disclose their disabilities and at best will make mainstream systems of induction more user friendly to all. Commitment by HE institutions to providing barrier-free curricula and support services is key, as is consultation with disabled students on all topics associated with their HE experiences. Fifthly, the authors call for the embedding of personal development planning for all students, but especially those with disabilities.
Working with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people: people with physical disabilities: Doug's story
- Author:
- SOCIAL CARE INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE
- Publisher:
- Social Care Institute for Excellence
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Place of publication:
- London
In this film we meet Doug, a gay man with physical disabilities who is in residential accommodation eight miles away from his friends and family. Doug carefully considered when to ‘come out’ within residential care and explains that this is a continual process because of the high turnover of residential care staff.
Discrimination and insensitivity about Doug’s being ‘out’ to other residents and suggestions by his providers to ‘keep quiet’ around other residents are highlighted in the film. Doug feels he has little opportunity to meet other gay people, so he feels isolated and cut off from the gay community.
Doug believes that a cultural shift and change in attitudes in social care is vital in order to provide relevant care for LGBT people. He also feels that direct payments are only one part of a solution to offer more choice and control to the user of services.
What is the problem, exactly? The distribution of Incapacity Benefit claimants' conditions across British regions
- Author:
- ANYADIKE-DANES Michael
- Journal article citation:
- Policy Studies, 31(2), March 2010, pp.187-202.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Whilst there are notable differences in the spatial distribution of those claiming Incapacity Benefit (IB) in Great Britain, where the percentage of claimants to population is two to three times higher in the North than it is in the South, there are also marked regional differences in the relative importance of the medical conditions from which IB claimants suffer. For example, about one third of males in the South are unable to work due to mental and behavioural disorders, but the proportion in the North is under a quarter. The converse is true of diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue. As the roll-out of Pathways to Work gathers pace with its offer of a condition management programme to claimants, and the new regime for those unable to work due to sickness is introduced, those charged with planning and managing the re-activation of benefit claimants need to have a more spatially informed understanding of the dimensions of the problem they are to address. This paper seeks to address this information gap by examining the regional distribution of conditions and its connection to the regional distribution of claimant numbers, as applicable for both men and women.
Paying the piper and calling the tune: power and the direct payment relationship
- Author:
- LEECE Janet
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 40(1), January 2010, pp.188-206.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This paper provides empirical evidence from original research, which investigated the impact on the support relationship of the direct employment of workers, by direct payment users. The study used a grounded theory approach, with questionnaires to measure job satisfaction and stress, and in-depth interviews with respondents. It explored and compared the experiences of eight direct payment relationships with eight traditional service delivery homecare relationships. The research reveals the importance of the concept of power in helping us to understand the effect of direct employment and, based on this research, makes some suggestions for policy and practice.