New Funding To Make Self Directed Support (SDS) Accessible

March 6, 2012 - PRLog -- The consortia comprise of Deaf Action, Fife Society for the Blind, Deafblind Scotland, SASLI and Deaf Connections – all working together to ensure maximum impact. Funding has been awarded by the Scottish Government to ensure that people across Scotland with sensory needs, that is people who experience a hearing, sight loss or both, increase their knowledge and understanding of self-directed support.

In order to support the implementation of the national Strategy for Self-directed Support in Scotland, the consortium will put in place a range of measures to enable people with a sensory loss to direct their own support.  This includes: creating accessible resources, training advocates to provide peer support and developing an information helpline, staffed by trained people with sensory needs to provide support and deal with queries, creating awareness among communication professionals and delivering specialist support for deafblind people.

The funding will also allow the organisations to promote a wider awareness of SDS for those with sensory needs by providing training to care and information providers and other relevant organisations.

Liz Scott Gibson, Chief Executive of Deaf Action, commented on the funding award: “We are delighted to be working in partnership to lead awareness and knowledge of the very important Self Directed Support Bill.  It is vital that deaf, blind and deafblind communities are given full access to the range of materials already available on SDS.”

Drena O’Malley, Resources Manager for Deafblind Scotland, added “With this award The Scottish Government has rightly recognised the importance of linguistic access for deaf and deafblind people, and the part that communication plays in their equalities agenda.”

In 2010 the Scottish Government published a joint national Strategy with CoSLA to develop self-directed support as the future approach to the design and delivery of social care in Scotland.  Self-directed support offers people the opportunity to have increased choice and control over the social care services they receive.  This may take the form of holding a direct payment or directing the type of service received.  The opportunity to have increased choice and control will be open to everyone eligible to receive social care support in Scotland.  

The consortium partners believe that it is imperative that all members of the community, including those with hearing and sight loss, are fully aware of the opportunities offered by self-directed support.  “With this funding we look forward to increasing knowledge of SDS so people with sensory needs throughout Scotland can confidently select and choose support that works best for them”, commented  Alan Suttie, Chief Executive of Fife Society for the Blind.

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Deaf Action is a deaf-led charity, managed by a Board of Trustees, of which 51% are deaf. Since 1835 we have been working together for an equal and better future for all deaf people; this vision remains at the heart of everything we do today and is central to all the services we provide.
See http://www.deafaction.org for further information