Free user forum for designers of mobility products

Designers with a new product concept – or simply a bright idea – for the mobility market, can find it difficult to gain feedback from potential end users at an early stage. At this year’s Mobility Roadshow innovators and Roadshow visitors will meet in the expanded Design Zone Café – an open forum to exchange ideas about looks and functionality of current and future independent living products: what’s hot and what’s not.

It takes place at the East of England Showground Peterborough on 21-23 June. Entry is free and there is no charge to take part in the Design Surgery.

With more than 10 million disabled people in the UK, over 15 per cent of the total population, the market for mobility and independent living products is substantial.

Jacqui Jones the executive director of Mobility Choice, the charity that organises the roadshow said: “The future for the mobility market is design led. For some years disabled people have been challenging manufacturers of independent living aids to deliver products that are stylish as well as functional.

“We introduced the Design Surgery concept as a pilot last year and it proved hugely popular. Several hundred visitors judged new and concept products on the highly popular ‘cool wall’ and had the opportunity to have their say about products they love or hate – or would like to change in some way.”

Commitment to make the UK a world leader on dementia

The Prime Minister has pledged to more than double the funding for research into dementia and neurodegenerative disease to more than £66 million each year by 2015.

David Cameron said he wanted to see the UK become a world leader in the field.

In England 670,000 people have dementia and the number of people developing the disease is increasing. One in three people will develop dementia and it costs society an estimated £19 billion a year. 

The extra cash forms part of a series of measures which include encouraging the creation of 20 ‘dementia-friendly communities’ where individuals, businesses and the state work together to support people with dementia.

The department of health will launch a public awareness campaign later this year and hospitals are to be given financial incentives to carry out checks on patients to see if they have the condition. 

The latest measures were announced alongside the Alzheimer’s Society publishing their report Dementia 2012: A national challenge.

The health secretary Andrew Lansley said: “Dementia is one of the biggest challenges we face and we are determined to transform the quality of dementia care for patients and their families.”

Jeremy Hughes, the chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Today’s announcement by the Prime Minister marks an unprecedented step towards making the UK a world leader in dementia.

“Doubling funding for research, tackling diagnosis and calling for a radical shift in the way we talk, think and act on dementia will help to transform lives.”

New national centre of excellence for dementia care

A £5m national centre of excellence for dementia care is to open later this year in Harrogate creating 70 jobs. Vida Healthcare, the company behind plans for the new 70-bed facility to be known as Vida Hall, says it will challenge current thinking on all aspects of dementia care, particularly in such areas as design and day-to-day care.

Work is underway ahead of its autumn opening and the home will cater for all aspects of dementia care including day care, respite and permanent residences. In particular, it intends to create a best practice working environment that will be a model for care homes in the future by  improving long term wellbeing and promoting freedom of choice.

Vida Healthcare is part of Harrogate-based property and healthcare organisation The Rycroft Group, run by father and son team Chris and James Rycroft.

The managing director James Rycroft said: “We are very excited about the launch of Vida Hall and want to create a bespoke, state-of-the-art facility that will embrace a new era in dementia care and challenge current practices.”

Minister claims statistics show benefit changes justified

More than one in three people whose claims for incapacity benefits have been reassessed have been found to be fit for work, according to ministers.

The department for work and pensions has released official figures for the first 141,100 incapacity benefits claimants to start the reassessment process. They show 37 per cent of those whose claims have been concluded have been found fit for work.

The remaining 63 per cent of claimants were entitled to Employment and Support Allowance, ESA,:

Thirty four per cent were placed in the Work Related Activity Group, where they will receive personalised help and support to help them prepare for a move into suitable work in the future.

Twenty nine per cent were placed in the Support Group and will receive unconditional financial support and will not be expected to work.

The employment minister Chris Grayling said: “These first figures completely justify our decision to reassess all the people on incapacity benefits. To have such a high percentage who are fit for work just emphasises what a complete waste of human lives the current system has been.”

Families urged not to miss deadline for care home fee claims

A law firm has warned that thousands of families across England could miss out on the chance to claim back wrongly paid care home fees.

The Department of Health announced a new deadline for those wishing to claim back wrongly paid care home fees on 15 March 2012. But NewLaw Solicitors has warned that as this deadline for continuing care claims has been introduced without any effort to contact those potentially affected, it could result in thousands of families losing out.

The deadline will affect those who paid for their care between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2011. Their claims will now need to be registered with the NHS by 30 September 2012 or they will lose the opportunity to claim forever.

People paying for their care between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2012 will need to register their claim by 31 March 2013.

Scott Thomas, representative for the specialist Care Fees team at NewLaw Solicitors, said:

“According to estimates from Age Concern, approximately 100,000 people in the UK should qualify for continuing healthcare funding yet relatively few are aware that they are entitled to this support. 

Under the current system, where a person has contributed to their fees for care from April 2004 onwards, they may be entitled to a reimbursement, even where the person who was cared for has since died.

Home care survey finds instances of poor care

An undercover investigation by the consumer association Which? has revealed examples of poor home care for older people, including missed visits and vulnerable people left with soiled bedclothes, food out of reach, and vital medication missed.

Which? asked 30 people or their carers to keep records for a week in January to log their experiences. Using voice recorders, diaries and computers, they noted 287 care visits showing the impact of good and bad care.  

One elderly woman was left alone in the dark for hours unable to find food or drink, another was left without a walking frame so she was unable to get to the bathroom, and one man was not given vital diabetic medication.

Some people did report carers going the extra mile to give excellent service, especially those with regular careworkers.

Which? also surveyed 926 people on the Which? Connect panel who were recipients, or relatives of those receiving home care to find out about their experiences.

Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: ““The government can no longer claim to be shocked as report after report highlights the pitiful state of care for older people. If they are serious about ensuring vulnerable people are treated with dignity, then we must see real action because every day they delay is another day older people risk being neglected.”

Healthcare workers list cost efficiency drives ahead of reacting to regulations as key to success

A survey by KPMG has uncovered that healthcare professionals view their number one priority as changing business operations to drive down cost. It also shows that this focus outweighs their desire to respond to regulatory change.

KPMG’s Business Leaders Survey – based on the views of 3,000 business leaders from across Europe and the Middle East – goes on to reveal that one in five within the health sector recognise the need to adapt to take into account changing customer and stakeholder behaviour. Although low in number, this figure is still higher than the national average comfortable with change (18 per cent).

Mark Britnell, chairman and partner of KPMG’s global healthcare practice, says: “Given the current state of the economy, it’s no surprise that cost cutting is top of the agenda.  However, with just 6 per cent suggesting that a reaction to regulatory change should be a priority, questions should be asked about how healthcare will succeed in a changing world. 

“In the UK, and elsewhere, we are on the cusp of major changes to the way healthcare provision is administered. In part this is a result of changing demographics, but it is also driven by the demands of patients. Healthcare providers need to be ready to respond, whether their response is driven by regulation or populist demand.”

The survey highlights that over three quarters of respondents (77 per cent) believe the private sector will become increasingly involved in public health – both in terms of direct medical provision and outsourced, back office, functions.

How ECT helps severely depressed

Aberdeen researchers have discovered how a controversial but effective treatment in psychiatry acts on the brain in people who are severely depressed.

Electroconvulsive therapy – ECT - which involves anaesthetising a patient and electrically inducing a seizure, is the most potent treatment option for patients with serious mood disorder.

Despite being used successfully in clinical practice around the world for more than 70 years, the underlying mechanisms of ECT have so far remained unclear.

Now a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and scientists at the University of Aberdeen has shown that ECT affects the way different parts of the brain involved in depression communicate’ with each other.

In a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences they show that the treatment appears to ‘turn down’ an overactive connection between areas of the brain that control mood and the parts responsible for thinking and concentrating.

This stops the overwhelming impact that depression has on sufferers’ ability to enjoy life and carry out day to day activities.

This decrease in connectivity observed after ECT treatment was accompanied by a significant improvement in the patient’s depressive symptoms.

Professor Reid, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Aberdeen and Consultant Psychiatrist at the city’s Royal Cornhill Hospital who led the study, said: “ECT is a controversial treatment, and one prominent criticism has been that it is not understood how it works and what it does to the brain. However we believe we’ve solved a 70 year old therapeutic riddle because our study reveals that ECT affects the way different parts of the brain involved in depression connect with one another. For all the debate surrounding ECT, it is one of the most effective treatments not just in psychiatry but in the whole of medicine, because 75 per cent to 85 per cent of patients recover from the symptoms.”

Sutton’s pilot dementia service attracts care minister

The Minister of State for Care Services, Paul Burstow, visited a pioneering support service for people living with dementia run by the Avenues Trust Group in Sutton in March.

The pilot dementia service has run in Sutton since last summer when Sutton Council recognised there was a growing need for specialist dementia support in the area.Tom Brake, the MP for Carshalton and Wallington, also visited the club, held at Anchor’s Admiral Court, recently and recommended Mr Burstow see the service first hand.

The Admiral Court Club teams people to jointly use their social care direct payments to pay for the support they receive from Avenues. The group used to use a local day care centre and pooling their money together means the group can get more support and stay together.  

The Admiral Court Club is one example of ‘lateral thinking’ which improves the lives of those living with dementia in the borough. Another is in connecting people who live with dementia and their carers/families with the community in which they live to ensure they don’t become isolated and excluded, while the community also benefits.

Wide gap between government rhetoric on disability and the reality, says TUC

 There is a huge gap in the rhetoric the government uses on disability and the reality of how its policies impact on opportunities for disabled people, says the TUC.

 In its submission to the Office for Disability Issues consultation on its three-year strategy on disability, the TUC argues that for disabled people who are able to work, paid, decent, secure and safe employment is the best route out of poverty and is an important step towards social inclusion.

 However, while the government says that disabled people need to do more to get into work and off benefits, its current policies are reducing the employment opportunities available to disabled people, says the TUC. The submission points out that ministers are making it even harder for disabled people to find a job – at a time when there are already far too few vacancies to provide the necessary opportunities for everyone looking for work.

 Spending cuts are threatening the employment rate for disabled people and as disabled people have disproportionately found jobs in the public sector, the TUC believes the impact of massive job losses there will be felt most keenly by disabled people.

Stronger CPS cases in hate crime lead to increase in guilty pleas

The CPS is prosecuting more hate crimes, more successfully and with more defendants pleading guilty than ever before.

 As the CPS publishes its Hate crimes and crimes against older people report 2010-11, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, said: “All crime is unacceptable but offences that are driven by hostility or hatred based on personal characteristics are particularly damaging to any civilised society.

 “I am particularly pleased that the number of guilty pleas is increasing as this demonstrates that our prosecutors are building stronger cases. The increase in guilty pleas benefits the victims of these crimes, many of whom would find giving evidence a stressful ordeal.

 “Outcomes in cases of hate crime are continuing to improve. We should be proud of the work we have done to secure this increase but I am determined that we build on this success.”

 Stephen Brookes of the Disability Hate Crime Network said that any increase in the figures of prosecutions relating to disability hate crime were to be welcomed. “We are pleased that improvements in confidence building, leading to disabled people reporting criminal acts, is in part arising from Hate Crime Scrutiny Panels which create the identification of local priorities in partnership with the CPS, police and other agencies,” he said. “Our aim must be to ensure that the figures continue to improve.”

Olympic seal of approval for inclusive sport event

The University of Nottingham’s sports for all initiative has received London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games backing for the second successive year, after being awarded the Inspire 2012 mark.

 Any-Body Month, which breaks down barriers to participation while inspiring more people to become active, was recognised as an initiative which holds the seven core Olympic values at its heart: friendship, excellence, respect, inspiration, determination, courage and equality.

 Seb Coe, chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games said: “Any-Body Month is encouraging students, staff and the local community to fulfil their potential.

 “I am proud that with the help of partners such as The University of Nottingham, we are delivering our vision to use the power of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to boost participation among people, no matter what their ability or past experience.”

 After receiving the Inspire mark for the second year running, organisers hope to attract record numbers to the events held over three weekends in March.

Charity offers innovative service for visually impaired holidaymakers

A range of escorted and supported group holidays for visually impaired people has been launched by national charity Vitalise.

 At the same time the charity is offering ‘voluntourism’ opportunities to sighted people of all ages and backgrounds.

 As it launches its new worldwide range of group holidays for visually impaired people, Vitalise is calling for gap year students, retired people and anyone else keen to volunteer their energy and enthusiasm to act as sighted holiday guides.

 Grand tours including New Zealand, Peru, China, South Africa and the American West Coast are among the far-flung holidays offered in the new brochure, launched this month. In Europe, Vitalise will take groups to destinations including Russia, Tuscany, Turkey, Croatia and Spain in search of inspiration and excitement. Closer to home, Vitalise is also offering a range of holidays across the UK.

 The holidays on offer range from outward-bound adventure treks, through tours and cruises, to cultural and city breaks.

Survey now live

The Carers Week 2012 survey is now live. Those who are one of the UK’s unpaid carers can complete the survey so that health and wellbeing can be measured.

Carers provide unpaid care for someone who is ill, frail or disabled. Some of them are forced to give up work to give 24 hour care. Some of them hold down top-level jobs, working a double life as carer and employee. Some of them are children; providing care duties around their school day.

Carers Week campaigns, promotes and celebrates the work of unpaid carers in the UK. To have an accurate picture of the pressure carers are under as many respondents to the survey as possible are needed.

See website www.surveymonkey.com/carersweek2012

Autism Care UK launches inspirational new mission statement

Autism Care UK, the support organisation for people with autism and complex needs have launched a bold and inspirational mission statement based on what people with autistic spectrum conditions have said they want for their adult lives.

“A life of happiness, dignity, achievement and inclusion” has been selected to represent the work of Autism Care UK and demonstrate how imaginative support services for people with autism can be life changing for both individuals and their wider families. The statement has also been chosen to echo Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which speaks of “Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy...and full and effective inclusion in society”. 

Pete Cross, head of strategy with ACUK, said: “Our mission statement is based on the outcomes that we provide for people through our services, be these community or home based. Happiness, dignity, achievement and inclusion represent things that we would all aspire to in our lives and people with autistic spectrum conditions are no different in this regard. 

“These are the outcomes that people with autism and their families rightly demand from their support providers and is the focus of all of ACUK’s care and support delivery.”

1000th audio described performance

VocalEyes described their 1000th theatre performance at Leeds Grand Theatre with Opera North’s production of Norma.

VocalEyes first audio described performance was in 1998; that year they described around 20 theatre performances – now they describe more than 100 theatre performances a year at venues all around the country.

On Saturday 11 October 2008 to celebrate theirr 10th anniversary VocalEyes set the Guinness World Record for the largest number of blind and partially sighted people attending an audio described performance with 168 blind and partially sighted Record-Breakers at Les Misérables at The Queen’s Theatre in London.

“Reaching our 1000th performance is a great tribute to our funders, our audiences and supporters, our describers and the theatres who engage with us; and together, we will continue to champion the best possible access to the arts for blind and partially sighted people,” said Judy Dixey, executive director of Vocaleyes.