Su Sayer, chief executive of United Response, says of the New Horizons consultation:
"New Horizons, the Department of Health’s new consultation on mental health, is a bold and positive step towards reform of mental health services in the UK. Its collaborative approach is particularly welcome: by involving people with mental health needs, the NHS and service providers from the start, the consultation is far more likely to lead to a successful new strategy that reflects and addresses the reality of living with mental health needs in the UK."
Read the response in full on our website
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Friday, 24 July 2009
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Photography exhibition opens in London today!
A photography exhibition opens today at Bankside Gallery in London.
The exhibition is the result of a year long project, UR in the Picture. It examines photography as a creative medium through which people can express their feelings about living with mental illness: their hopes, their fears and their achievements.
The project was carried out in partnership with the photographic charity, PhotoVoice.
Details of the exhibition:
July 7th- 11th
Bankside Gallery, 48 Hopton Street, London, SE1 9JH
11.00am - 6.00pm
Free entry
The exhibition is the result of a year long project, UR in the Picture. It examines photography as a creative medium through which people can express their feelings about living with mental illness: their hopes, their fears and their achievements.
The project was carried out in partnership with the photographic charity, PhotoVoice.
Details of the exhibition:
July 7th- 11th
Bankside Gallery, 48 Hopton Street, London, SE1 9JH
11.00am - 6.00pm
Free entry
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Winfield in Chatham is changing lives through IT training
Winfield is an IT training specialist for people with mental health needs, they combine flexibility and continuity to help people move on.
They opened their doors in Chatham three years ago offering their support to people who needed to gain new skills and rebuild their lives, with 75 people currently using the centre on a regular basis.
Winfield has achieved an exemplary pass rate of 85% and offers training across a range of industry standard software including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher and Internet Explorer.
Read the full press release on United Reponse's website to find out more.
They opened their doors in Chatham three years ago offering their support to people who needed to gain new skills and rebuild their lives, with 75 people currently using the centre on a regular basis.
Winfield has achieved an exemplary pass rate of 85% and offers training across a range of industry standard software including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher and Internet Explorer.
Read the full press release on United Reponse's website to find out more.
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
United Response on BBC !
United Response was featured on BBC Breakfast News this morning and Radio 4's You and Yours this lunchtime.
Both times, the story was about telesupport or telecare as it is also known. This is a system which uses an integrated telephone/video system so that people can connect with other people.
This means that some people can get some care talking into the phone and seeing the person they are talking to. It can be really helpful for people who are living on their own but need support with some daily tasks. It can also put the user in control of when they recieve that support.
We have piloted using telesupport in some of our services and it has worked really well. We are looking for funding to do more.
To read the BBC News story online go to their website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7213684.stm
To listen to the You and Yours piece, go to the listen again section of their website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml#y
To find out more about what we are doing, and for Sharon and Emma's story, go to our website at: http://www.unitedresponse.org.uk/press
Both times, the story was about telesupport or telecare as it is also known. This is a system which uses an integrated telephone/video system so that people can connect with other people.
This means that some people can get some care talking into the phone and seeing the person they are talking to. It can be really helpful for people who are living on their own but need support with some daily tasks. It can also put the user in control of when they recieve that support.
We have piloted using telesupport in some of our services and it has worked really well. We are looking for funding to do more.
To read the BBC News story online go to their website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7213684.stm
To listen to the You and Yours piece, go to the listen again section of their website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml#y
To find out more about what we are doing, and for Sharon and Emma's story, go to our website at: http://www.unitedresponse.org.uk/press
CSCI report
CSCI (Commission for Social Care) has written a report about the state of social care.
Our Chief Executive, Su Sayer, has said this in response:
"An evaluation of our social care system and its capacity to meet the needs of those with learning disabilities and others is long overdue. Therefore, we welcome today's CSCI report and the Government's announcement that it will be undertaking its own review of provision.
"Anyone who works in social care is aware of the demographic pressures central Government and local authorities are facing, with a rapidly ageing population and reduced availability of informal care. Those of us providing services are realistic about financial costs and aware of our responsibility to ensure best value for money. One way of achieving this may be more flexible and cost effective approaches to support, such as greater use of Supported Living as an alternative to residential care and the use of new technology alongside traditional methods. Indeed, people with learning disabilities are demanding these changes themselves, as they seek more independence.
"We have come a long way over the last 30 years. People with learning disabilities not only have a right to expect an adequate level of support and care, but are gaining confidence in demanding that right. As a society we cannot allow funding to be cut back to only "critical" services. If we do, the clock will be wound back and people will lose the independence they fought so hard to gain."
Thursday, 9 August 2007
Telesupport
Pioneering twenty first century social care: United Response trials telesupport as a possible means of meeting future social care demands.
We are the first charity pioneering a new integrated telephone/video system as a means of supporting people with learning disabilities or mental health needs. It’s called telesupport.
We released this information to the press :
By 2050, it's predicted that four times as many people will need social care as today*, which will result in a major resourcing crisis for the care sector.
That's why United Response is the first charity pioneering a new integrated telephone/video system as a means of supporting people with learning disabilities or mental health needs. It’s called telesupport.
The project embraces cutting edge technology – a stand-alone unit incorporating broadband-enabled telephone, videoscreen and camera – to pilot a flexible, 24 hour form of support. Telesupport will complement face to face provision, offering a service which is available as and when people need it, with support workers, friends and peers just the touch of a button away. Additionally, by reducing some unnecessary home visits, overall costs will be reduced.
United Response’s partner in the project is Aupix, leading UK experts in the delivery of new solutions incorporating IP and video technology. Aupix have created a unique, tailored solution for the telesupport project which ensures it is fully user friendly for people with learning disabilities or mental health needs.
United Response has already run two workshops involving the technology to test the outline concept. Feedback from people with learning disabilities or mental health needs was overwhelmingly positive, with users finding the devices easy to use and believing they would be both reassuring and highly practical.
As a result, United Response is funding a limited trial, with 5 people with learning disabilities and 3 people with mental health needs using the technology. 7 residences have had the technology installed, so that the effectiveness of the service can be thoroughly tested and evaluated against a benchmark of current provision.
Initial findings show that, in addition to the flexibility of the service, telesupport could provide additional benefits including visual support for those who find verbal communication challenging and also assist with specific mental health conditions – helping people with schizophrenia to manage their "voices" for example, in a way that just isn’t possible with an ordinary telephone.
Although telesupport must never replace essential face to face support, it is likely to be a highly valuable additional technique as part of an overall "care menu". It is very flexible, so can fit around the schedule of the person requiring support, and their own preferences regarding privacy. Initial feedback has also shown that it could provide an excellent channel for peer to peer communications and support, as well as family contact.
Su Sayer, chief executive of United Response, said, "We’ve always tried to pioneer the best ways of supporting people, from the early days of care in the community, and telesupport seems a logical step forward. We believe we are the first organisation to use this technology to create an improved, more accessible and flexible service, and our initial findings show it has a major potential value to people, although it must never replace face to face support."
John Dixon, director of adult services in West Sussex, said, "We are keen to explore anything which can provide an improved but cost effective new way of providing care and support. From United Response’s initial research, it’s clear that telesupport is welcomed by the people who are using it, and has unexpected benefits, particularly in how flexible it can be around individual lifestyles. We look forward to further findings and hopefully seeing telesupport improve the lives of people with learning disabilities or mental health needs in West Sussex and beyond."
Anne Davey, a United Response service manager who has begun using telesupport with three people she works with, said, "It’s a really exciting project and we’re all looking forward to seeing how it can help us. It’s already had one benefit for me, personally. One person I work with often needs a little support out of hours. Because he has a speech difficulty, it’s not always easy to understand what he needs from me, so I have to make a face to face visit just in case. Through telesupport he finds it far easier to communicate, partly through using gestures, so I am able to support him without always having to disrupt his day."
United Response is now seeking funding for a fuller pilot programme and rollout later this year.
* Source: Speech by Stephen Ladyman MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Community, 24 February 2005. "Today we spend over £12bn on providing social care and by 2050 there will be four times as many people needing that care and their needs will be more intensive. More physically disabled people and more people with learning disabilities are now living into old age. A bigger proportion of older people will have mental health problems such as dementia and the fastest growing cohort of people now is older people over the age of 100! But if four times as many people will need care we can be sure of this: we cannot afford to quadruple the cost of care and we certainly cannot quadruple the number of people delivering care."
We are the first charity pioneering a new integrated telephone/video system as a means of supporting people with learning disabilities or mental health needs. It’s called telesupport.
We released this information to the press :
By 2050, it's predicted that four times as many people will need social care as today*, which will result in a major resourcing crisis for the care sector.
That's why United Response is the first charity pioneering a new integrated telephone/video system as a means of supporting people with learning disabilities or mental health needs. It’s called telesupport.
The project embraces cutting edge technology – a stand-alone unit incorporating broadband-enabled telephone, videoscreen and camera – to pilot a flexible, 24 hour form of support. Telesupport will complement face to face provision, offering a service which is available as and when people need it, with support workers, friends and peers just the touch of a button away. Additionally, by reducing some unnecessary home visits, overall costs will be reduced.
United Response’s partner in the project is Aupix, leading UK experts in the delivery of new solutions incorporating IP and video technology. Aupix have created a unique, tailored solution for the telesupport project which ensures it is fully user friendly for people with learning disabilities or mental health needs.
United Response has already run two workshops involving the technology to test the outline concept. Feedback from people with learning disabilities or mental health needs was overwhelmingly positive, with users finding the devices easy to use and believing they would be both reassuring and highly practical.
As a result, United Response is funding a limited trial, with 5 people with learning disabilities and 3 people with mental health needs using the technology. 7 residences have had the technology installed, so that the effectiveness of the service can be thoroughly tested and evaluated against a benchmark of current provision.
Initial findings show that, in addition to the flexibility of the service, telesupport could provide additional benefits including visual support for those who find verbal communication challenging and also assist with specific mental health conditions – helping people with schizophrenia to manage their "voices" for example, in a way that just isn’t possible with an ordinary telephone.
Although telesupport must never replace essential face to face support, it is likely to be a highly valuable additional technique as part of an overall "care menu". It is very flexible, so can fit around the schedule of the person requiring support, and their own preferences regarding privacy. Initial feedback has also shown that it could provide an excellent channel for peer to peer communications and support, as well as family contact.
Su Sayer, chief executive of United Response, said, "We’ve always tried to pioneer the best ways of supporting people, from the early days of care in the community, and telesupport seems a logical step forward. We believe we are the first organisation to use this technology to create an improved, more accessible and flexible service, and our initial findings show it has a major potential value to people, although it must never replace face to face support."
John Dixon, director of adult services in West Sussex, said, "We are keen to explore anything which can provide an improved but cost effective new way of providing care and support. From United Response’s initial research, it’s clear that telesupport is welcomed by the people who are using it, and has unexpected benefits, particularly in how flexible it can be around individual lifestyles. We look forward to further findings and hopefully seeing telesupport improve the lives of people with learning disabilities or mental health needs in West Sussex and beyond."
Anne Davey, a United Response service manager who has begun using telesupport with three people she works with, said, "It’s a really exciting project and we’re all looking forward to seeing how it can help us. It’s already had one benefit for me, personally. One person I work with often needs a little support out of hours. Because he has a speech difficulty, it’s not always easy to understand what he needs from me, so I have to make a face to face visit just in case. Through telesupport he finds it far easier to communicate, partly through using gestures, so I am able to support him without always having to disrupt his day."
United Response is now seeking funding for a fuller pilot programme and rollout later this year.
* Source: Speech by Stephen Ladyman MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Community, 24 February 2005. "Today we spend over £12bn on providing social care and by 2050 there will be four times as many people needing that care and their needs will be more intensive. More physically disabled people and more people with learning disabilities are now living into old age. A bigger proportion of older people will have mental health problems such as dementia and the fastest growing cohort of people now is older people over the age of 100! But if four times as many people will need care we can be sure of this: we cannot afford to quadruple the cost of care and we certainly cannot quadruple the number of people delivering care."
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Mental health services must look beyond clinical needs
We have welcomed the publication of Professor Appleby's report on the next phase of mental health care reform.
The Chief Executive of United Response, Su Sayer, said:
"We need to work together to create services that not only respond to a person's clinical needs, but which look beyond them to provide people with the information and ongoing support they need to live full lives in the community."
To read our full response, go to www.unitedresponse.org.uk
Friday, 4 May 2007
Mental Wealth
In June 2005, a group of people with mental health needs took part in a project called Mental Wealth. The project aimed to equip those people with the skills they needed so they could take photographs about what it's like to have a mental health need.
The results are amazing. We decided to make a mini-book out of some of the photographs. And now we have decided to make it available to everyone.
You can get a copy of the mini-book by going to the United Response website: www.unitedresponse.org.uk
The results are amazing. We decided to make a mini-book out of some of the photographs. And now we have decided to make it available to everyone.
You can get a copy of the mini-book by going to the United Response website: www.unitedresponse.org.uk
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