Aids & adaptation presentation york 2011 domini

Aids & Adaptations: hope or despair?

leadership innovation transformation

Where have we been? Where are we going and how will we get there?

Domini Gunn-PeimDirector of Public Health and Vulnerable

Communities

Did you know?


• Over 70% of DFGs go to over 60s but 1 in 5 disabled older people (nearly 1m) live in unsuitable homes

• There are around 5m disabled people of working age, half of whom are unemployed & 30% live in poverty

• 40% of disabled people (16 to 44) live in unsuitable homes

• Nearly 1 in 20 children has a disability. Children make up less than 10% of all referrals but their average cost is significantly higher e.g. extensions

Did you know? (2)


• More than half of disabled children who require specially adapted homes live in unsuitable homes

• Disabled people are twice as likely as non-disabled people to be social housing tenants

• Disabled children are more likely to live in social housing - 44% of families with a disabled child & 57% of families with a severely disabled child live in social housing


Performance: Accessible homes

• Adaptations services are not visible & suffer from not being ‘owned’ by a single service (housing & health), policy priority – (older people/children) or housing provider

• Clients have no ‘national’ voice

• There has never been a clear national performance indicator & there is a risk that while it contributes to delivery of targets it is selectively applied


Performance: Accessible homes (2)

• DCLG Good Practice Guide 2006 sets targets that:

– ‘High priority cases should be completed in 16 weeks (assuming 5 working days per week) with a maximum target time of 52 weeks for the least urgent cases’

– Guidance identifies that OT assessments should take no longer than 8 weeks in all cases


Performance example: SW Councils

Council A 10 weeks (OT referral to approval)

Council B 19 weeks (OT referral to approval)

Council C 40 weeks (OT referral to approval)

Council D 43 weeks (OT referral to approval)

Council E 52 weeks (OT referral to approval)

Council F 60 weeks (OT referral to approval)

Council G Up to 3 years!

Where have we been?


• Minor adaptations (grab rails, handrails, etc.) produced a range of lasting, positive consequences for virtually all recipients.

Of a range of benefits reported, 62 per cent of respondents suggested they felt safer from the risk of accident as a result of the work done and 77 per cent perceived a positive effect on their health.

Where have we been?


• Major adaptations (bathroom conversions, extensions, lifts, etc.) in most cases had transformed people's lives. Before alterations, people used words like 'prisoner', 'degraded' and 'afraid' to describe their situation; following adaptation work, they spoke of themselves as 'independent', 'useful' and 'confident'.

• Asked to give the adaptation a mark out of 10, the average score awarded was 8.9.


Where are we going?

• Review of long term care

• Law Commission review

• Public Health agendas

• Housing and welfare reforms

• Health and Well Being Boards


Winning a place at the table

• Identify, review and reassess local needs – disseminate outcomes

• Identify champions – appropriate level and representative organisations

• Equality Impact Assessment – making them real• Challenge access to advice and information – constantly• Discuss commissioning and funding• Calculate risks and associated costs• Capture and share outcomes• Equality of access for local people at the local level


Cost of failure

– The care costs for a seriously disabled child whose home is unsuitable are £690 a day (£0.25m p.a.)

– Falls often occur while waiting for adaptations. The average cost of a fractured hip is £28,665 – 5 x an average adaptation & 100 times the cost of fitting hand & grab rails


Cost of failure (2)

– For parent/carers without adaptations there is a 90% chance that they will need health services due to falls, musculoskeletal injury or stress-related conditions


Achievable outcomes

• Improved health, economic, social and environmental outcomes for people with disabilities

• Reductions in inequality• World class needs based joint

commissioning• Reductions in public spending• Improved housing stock/ fit for purpose


CIH Positive Action for Disability PAfD

• CIH Positive Action for Disability programme (PAfD)

• Research shows that many housing associations have fewer than 2% of employees declaring a disability, in contrast to 20% of disabled people in the general working population - so there is a strong argument that there are simply not enough disabled people working in the housing sector.


CIH Positive Action for Disability PAfD

• CIH would like to see more talented disabled housing professionals entering the sector and developing a successful career and is seeking committed housing partners to help deliver this aim.

• PAfD recognises that managing disability is a challenging area for many service-providers. To smooth the path, we will offer your organisation access to disability equality expertise and advice, and a comprehensive trainee recruitment and support package - including on-going mentoring and training for participants.


Contact Details

Domini GunnDirector of Public Health and Vulnerable [email protected] 361314

Graham FindlayManagerCIH Positive Action for Disability [email protected] 042112

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Education

Aids & adaptation presentation york 2011 domini