Hey gang, there’s an event I’m going to be involved in next week. It’s the NHS Citizen Design Workshop.
What’s that about?
The NHS are changing how they do things and how they plan new ways of working. They want ordinary people to be involved and have a voice about how to do this.
How can they give people a voice and include everyone? Usually we’re not included and decisions are made about us or for us without asking us.
Yes usually everything is in jargon and we can’t understand what’s going on in meetings and at conferences. Yeah and things are always too long and so boring! I hate meetings and conferences.
Yes and quite often there aren’t many people with learning disabilities at these events because it’s very hard to join in. Sometimes the venues aren’t very wheelchair friendly either.
Well I’m going along to try to help them try and understand how to make it more inclusive. What do you all think would make it easier for you to be involved?
Well they need to think about how they give information to people. Lots more people could be involved if they made their information easy-read and with pictures to support the words. It would help to have information in easy-read before the event so we know what it’s about and what will happen.
They definitely need to stop using jargon! It would be great to go to a conference where the presentations were done as key points and made clear and simple.
It would help if people were asked to speak more slowly as well. It would be less boring if there were more breaks so you had time to understand the information.
If they want people to be included and have a voice then they need to think in a person centred way and that means being flexible to people’s needs.
We have a lot to offer because our experience comes from the heart and it’s time we were included and had a voice!
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