Category Archives: Featured Article

Disabled people take part in football tournament in Edmonton

August 3, 2014   Carers, disability, Featured Article, learning difficulties

People with learning disabilities held their own special Olympic tournament

9:20am Sunday 3rd August 2014 in News  By Anna Slater, Reporter

 Disabled people take part in football tournament

People with learning disabilities held their own special Olympic tournament as part of a scheme to get them involved in sport.

One-to-One Enfield held a football match at the Southbury Leisure Centre, in Southbury Road, Enfield, in association with Special Olympics Great Britain.

Part of the Unified Sports initiative, it enables people of all ages with learning disabilities to practice and play together on the same teams as people of all ages.

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Are 15-minute homecare visits always bad?

July 29, 2014   Carers, Featured Article, Social care

Shorter visits can have a place within a wider care package

• Why 15-minute homecare visits should be bannedShr

  • Mike Webster, assistant director, North Yorkshire county council
  • Guardian Professional,
‘Service users often wish to know what time people are going to turn up and for how long they will stay.’

Local authority commissioners often face criticism for the regimented way they purchase care and particularly for the hourly rates they offer. Interested observers will talk about the need to purchase care around outcomes, rather than the seemingly outdated method of paying by the hour, half hour or 15 minutes. In reality this is a bit of a holy grail as very few local authorities have mastered the art of outcome-based commissioning. This is made more difficult by the fact that service users often wish to know what time people are going to turn up and for how long they will stay. There is also the small matter of deciding how to pay for such arrangements.

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Disabled people in Britain face a hidden housing crisis, charity warns

July 27, 2014   Carers, disability, Featured Article, Older care

Disabled people are experiencing a hidden housing crisis, says a new report suggesting that many are having to wash in their kitchens and sleep in their living rooms because their homes are ill-designed for their needs.

The charity Leonard Cheshire Disability claims that as many as five million people now need a disabled-friendly home, a number set to rise as the population ages. A survey for the charity’s Home Truths campaign finds that almost three-quarters of people with mobility problems do not have an accessible door into their building. More than half say their buildings do not have doors and hallways wide enough for a wheelchair.

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