This International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IPWDD), we’re proud to share some of the work we’ve been doing to encourage the well-being and recognise the value of people with disabilities in our team and within the Horley Health Hub and the community members who we support, or who are part of our growing community at the Hub.
In the UK, approximately 16 million people have a disability, which represents 24% of the total population, and most of the disabilities that we have in the UK are an ‘acquired disability’. Acquired disabilities develop over the course of an individuals life, often as a result of injury or illness, altering someone’s abilities. The development of any disability brings a variety of new challenges as individuals adjust to a new reality, and in order to work towards and champion total disability inclusion, it’s important to consider the journey that individuals face.
What is IPWDD for:
- Celebration: recognising and valuing the diversity of our disabled community, and to cherish the role we all play, regardless of our abilities.
- Learning: to understand and learn from the experiences of people with living with a disability.
- A day for optimism: to look towards the future and the creation of a world where a person is not characterised by their disabilities, but by their abilities.
- Action: where all people, organisations, agencies and charities not only show their support for International Day of People with Disabilities, but take on a commitment to create a world characterised by equal human rights.
What have we done so far:
- As part of our leadership programme, we have led sessions on inclusion and how to encourage a diverse and welcoming environment in the workplace
- Delivered awareness sessions on Autism and ADHD to ABC staff
- Developed a comprehensive Accessibility Audit for our ABC offices
- Engaged in an Autism-friendly Audit of Horley Health Hub to assess our accessibility – for which we received positive feedback from the Autism Oxford auditors
- Installed a hearing loop at our Horley Health Hub
- Improved neurodiverse-friendly environment at our Horley Health Hub: with a floor plan detailed pages on our website including a ‘meet the team’ section and links to wellbeing support
- Labelled disabled parking spaces at our Horley Health Hub
- Reviewed our job descriptions and interview process to make them more neurodiverse-friendly
- Shared top tips of how to support colleagues who are neurodiverse
What we have planned for the future:
- To carry out the Accessibility Audits across all our ABC sites
- To become a Disability Confident Employer, as part of the Disability Confident scheme.
- Continue our commitment to continue to educate people within the community around barriers to inclusion and share awareness.
“Being disabled means taking a slightly different path, but it doesn’t hinder our potential” – Robert M Hensel.
Chloe Burchell
Inclusion Champion – Disability
Alliance for Better Care
