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Wesley Shelbourne has taken over as General Manager of JUST Lincolnshire. Contact wesley.shelbourne@just.lincolnshire.gov.uktel 1522 596161

27th January 2012 at 3:35pm

Disability

Department for Work and Pensions statistics indicate there are over 10 million disabled people in Britain, including those with limiting long-standing illness.  The 2001 Census determines 125,104 people in Lincolnshire or 19.3% - identifying themselves as having a limiting long term illness, with 27,719 describing themselves as permanently sick or disabled. 43.8% of people with a limiting long-term illness are of working age in the county.

The Disability Discrimination Act expanded its provision and definition in 2005 to include a wider range of illnesses and diseases at the point of diagnosis.  

There are in excess of 50 organisations in Lincolnshire working as or for disabled people, and improvements to our services need to be evaluated and assessed by these groups, as well as trade unions and other interested parties.

JUST Lincolnshire is committed to ensuring services, policies and employment practices positively address the needs of disabled people, and in doing so, value the contribution disabled people make to our workplaces and communities.

Better Links for carers with GPs Project Launches

After months of dedicated planning by a team of unpaid carers, the Better Links with GPs project is launching in July across Lincolnshire. The project aims to support GP practices by providing information and services for unpaid carers within their practice. There are currently around 66,000 people in Lincolnshire who spend a proportion of their life providing unpaid support to family members, a partner, a relative or a friend. 

“Our GP is the 1st person we contact when we need clinical expertise. They support both the patient and the carer, medically. The project provides an invaluable service that the GP can refer the Carer to, covering practical and emotional issues, respecting and valuing them in their caring role. Many carry on in isolation never knowing that support is available which makes this a project so needed by all!” Says Pauline Mountain a former carer in Lincolnshire.

This project has been led by carers for carers. ‘Franks Model’ named after one pioneering volunteer, is the benchmark for practices to support carers and includes simple steps GPs surgeries can take. These include having a carers’ notice board, having a carers register, handing out carers’ information packs and recognising who is a carer within their practice.

The project will go further than awareness raising of carers though to give GPs a new pathway to refer into carers support. Carers will be offered a carers assessment, the emergency response plan, specialist benefits advice, emotional support, access to employment, learning and leisure activities and much more. Carers who receive support in their caring role are much less likely to experience carer breakdown and continue to support their loved one without causing their own health to deteriorate.

 The Carer is supported through the carers assessment to identify any additional services they would like, this could include where to find out more about the condition, how to access emotional and practical support and may include referrals being made on their behalf for the cared for, taking away many of the stresses associated with caring.

If you or someone you know would like to know more about the support available for carers in Lincolnshire, please contact 01522 812830 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Aimee Holland 07787 240079 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Jane Coleman 07787 240102 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

 

Government issues draft guidance on definition of disability in Equality Act 2010

The Government has launched a consultation on draft guidance on matters to be taken into account in determining whether or not an employee is disabled under the Equality Act 2010. 

The Equality Act 2010, which is replacing the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), provides protection from discrimination on the basis of a range of protected characteristics. Disability is one of the protected characteristics and, like the DDA, the Equality Act 2010 includes a definition of disability. 

In general, the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010 is similar to the one that applies for the purposes of the DDA. However, unlike the DDA, the Equality Act 2010 does not require a disabled person to demonstrate that, where the impairment adversely affects his or her ability to carry out a normal day-to-day activity, that activity involves one of a specified list of capacities, such as mobility, speech, or the ability to understand. 

Where possible, the draft guidance follows a similar structure to the current guidance on matters to be taken into account in determining questions relating to the definition of disability (PDF format, 125K) (on the Equality and Human Rights Commission website). 

The main provisions relating to disability in the Equality Act 2010 are expected to come into force on 1 October 2010. 

 

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities

The EHRC has published an important document in relation additional rights for People with Disabilites which goes beyond DDA and  has additional rights to the DDA and the Single Equality Act. 

The UK government has signed up to it.  It can be used to challenge authorities on numerous issues disabled people face.  Unfortunately It is quite a lengthy document (I will endeavour to do a cheat sheet)  in the mean time the Easy Read version may make it more presentable for most (also attached).

To view document in full visit: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/a-guide-to-the-un-disability-convention/

For a video presntation of the document in BSL please follow this link:  http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/a-guide-to-the-un-disability-convention/bsl-version-of-the-guide/

'Fix the Web' - Addressing web accessibility for disabled people

Poor standards of web accessibility mean many disabled people are excluded from using big parts of the internet.
The solution offered by 'FIX THE WEB'  is to make it super easy for disabled and older people to report problems with websites. Volunteers do the work of contacting the website owners and signposting them to support. In doing this work, volunteers will understand more about e-accessibility for themselves, as well as giving crucial information to website owners. Everybody wins!

Visit http://ww.fixtheweb.net/ to learn more and help improve accessibility.

Disability Etiquette

Useful document giving the do's and don'ts of what to say (and what not to say) when communicating with someone who is disabled or when discussing disability in general.

DOWNLOAD
Disability Etiquette
pdf | 2.31MB

This page lists various age related websites which may be of interest to users of this website. JUST Lincolnshire does not endorse any of these sites.

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