Just how inclusive are we?

I have to say that this is something that fascinates me with our current society. We have this need to label EVERYTHING – personally I think it is our way of making things easier to handle. In our growing multicultural society why is it that we still find it acceptable to place these labels? Especially in Britain there is this concept of being politically correct, I believe the new PC term for disability is ‘special need’ however when I asked others with impairment which term they preferred the common feeling was that ‘special need’ was more derogatory than disability or impaired !

There is plenty of ‘pro disability’ legislation about however its key focus is often on the built environment and does nothing to address the true route of the problem in society’s attitudes. So are we really an inclusive society or do we just like to pretend that we are!?

Video

here is a video i have prepared to help those understand what it i slike to live with an impirment. My aunt is disabled and told me that it is essential to have a sense of humour when less abled so i have tried to reflect this in the video. I have annotatded it with my thoughts and feelings about everyday issues that i face. Hopefully you will all enjoy it =)

Can sport be a motivational tool ?

This is an interesting concept for me as I was such an avid sporty person as you may have it that now I am unable to do anything its driving me nuts. I find myself pushing harder by thinking about getting back to the sorts I love. I know others who have been in a similar position but all of whom have been heavily involved in sport before their accident.

So how important is sport to the general public? Is sport more of a social tool? There is many a time I have been in the gym and there are small groups working together either walking and chatting on the treadmill, helping each other do weights or competing against each other on the cardio machines. Could this still be used as a form of encouragement? Could you harness the aspect of exercise and combine it with rehabilitation. Yes I am aware this is basically physiotherapy but what if you could have group physiotherapy in addition?

Quote of the Week...

“Contentment: The smother of invention.”

Ethel Mumford

I think this is the case in the NHS. They have implemented so many benchmarks and hierarchies that innovation simply can’t get through. They are starting to realise this however and open up more via projects with the Design Council and government schemes like The National Innovation Centre. The aim of these is to give a single point of entry to the system making the design process clearer and more transparent. So where can we go from here? How can you tell what everyone wants? Maybe they should provide focus groups, just like they provide guinea pig patients for medical students maybe those guinea pigs could also work with designers to help them understand the situation they are designing for !? Feedback please....

Quote of the Week...

“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”

Jamie Paolinetti – digital media designer

I love this concept that we can do anything we can put our minds too. The concept of limitations could be limitations we impose on ourselves or are they imposed on us by society. We seem to have this need to put people in a box so that we know how to deal with them. However nobody deserves this. Alternatively maybe this can be interpreted into the products that we design. To act as a facilitator for others to learn and understand from. So for example with rehabilitation products reminding the user to push themselves and that they can do things, give them goals to aim for, give them something to strive at while reminding those around them they need that little bit more understanding or time to do a task.

Why do we need quality of life factors ?

This is a question which many may ask. The NHS’s performance needs to be measured and evaluated in a way which should not only take account of costs and benefits of those providing the health care but also of those receiving the health care!

The problem that arises with the term Quality of Life is that there are no set defined terms or methodology to measure these factors. As a result the whole topic area is a disputed one with more procedures to test, weigh and measure each procedures different results which then just leads to confusion.

There is no argument that Quality of Life factors could be an efficient and effective way to measure NHS’s output in terms of service it can demonstrate the fact that a treatment which can improve someone’s health physically can actually have a detrimental effect on a person’s psychological health.