Disability

This is a very diverse group. It includes disabilities that are related to; mobility, sight, hearing, speech and language disability or difficulty, mental illness, learning difficulty or learning disability, chronic illnesses such as cancer and HIV .

A person might have more than one disability.

If you require additional information you can contact the Southampton Centre for Independent Living

• Accessibility of formats and communication, signage (e.g. Braille / audio tape / induction loop/ easy read). Are you using the council’s Access for all guide?

• Physical and sensory access including transport and the built environment. You can get advice from the Access Team in Property Services about accessibility design.

• Allowing a service user sufficient time
  for example a person who is deaf, or who has a speech impediment, or a learning disability, will require a longer appointment time to be able to either express, fully, their point of view or to taken in the information being presented. This also need to be considered when organising public meetings, consultations etc

• Many of the barriers people face can be prevented if a little thought is given to how and where a service is provided.

• The Social Model of Disability focuses on getting rid of the barriers:

  • Badly designed buildings
  • No Lifts / lifts not working
  • No parking spaces
  • Hypocritical or prejudiced attitudes
  • Poor job prospects
  • Poverty and low income
  • Inaccessible Transport
  • Isolated Families
  • Insufficient number of support workers/ enablers/ communicators

• If you are assessing something that affects staff have you taken into considerations our duty to make reasonable adjustments in terms of employment practice

• Do you know about Access to Work?

Race

Black and minority ethnic communities and individuals this also includes gypsies and travellers and white others such as Eastern European

• Communication formats, language needs, translation and cultural consideration Access for all NB translation is not always the best option as sometimes people can be fluent verbally in a community language but be unable to read the language written down

• Impact of living in a majority white environment

• Direct and indirect racial harassment and Hate Crime.

• How are cultural issues taken into account when planning and delivering the service? For further advice contact the BME Community Development Team

• Isolation and work patterns of minority businesses

• Underachievement or underrepresentation in some areas of work and life

Gender

Women/ girls, men/ boys

Transgender (people who were born with a biological gender that they do not psychologically identify with)

• Hours of access

• Women predominantly have main caring responsibility for young children and older relatives. This is one of the reasons that many women tend to have lower earnings then men.

• Many lone parents experience high socio-economic inequality.

• Physical access (e.g. pushchairs and toddlers),

• Single fathers - baby changing facilities are often sited in women's toilets.

• Terminology of services preferential to mothers e.g mother and toddler should be parent and todder

• Stereotypical gender assumptions

• Underachievement or under representation, balance on groups

• For transgender people it can be very distressing and demeaning to receive services that force them to be seen as their biological gender.

Age

Children, young people and young parents, the elderly or older people, retired

• Assumptions about the age range, capability and generation viewpoints

• Example: assuming that all older people share the same interests

• Teenage parents, children as carers, elderly as service users

Faith or Belief

Communities or individuals with diverse beliefs and religions

• Respecting and reflecting diverse cultures, lifestyles, customs and values for women and men, boys and girls (single sex provision)

• Observing food rules including rules about preparation and storage of food.  

• Observing religious celebrations

• Example  How are service users and staff members allowed to observe religious practices such as  fasting during Ramadan?

• It needs to be recognised and understood that

• Not all people who are a particular faith will necessarily conform to all parts of that faith.

• Within each specific Faith there may be individual groups who have different beliefs and practices

Sexual Orientation

Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and heterosexual

• Assumptions about partners or family types, invisibility, dignity.

• Assumptions that all people are in heterosexual relationships. This can lead to anyone who isn’t feeling invisible or thinking  that their views are not being taken in to account.

• Forms that do not include the options civil partnership / partners

• Older lesbian, gay and bi-sexual people. Other people may assume they are heterosexual if they are/have been married.

• Rest / care homes may not cater for the needs of elderly gay people.

• Are same sex couples allowed the same benefits as a heterosexual couples?

• Are service users asked about their sexual orientation?

• Homophobia

• For further advice you can contact the HCC Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Action Group

Income

Low or no income, unemployed, part time and seasonal workers

• Access to personal transport and information technology, child care costs, shift work, double disadvantaged groups (e.g. single young parents, older visually impaired person)

Geographical Location

Single dwelling, village, town, rural, urban

• Access to services, health-care

• Transport

• Isolation

• Potential socio-economic gap between indigenous residents and 2^nd home owners

• Lack of coverage of broadband and mobile. This affects rural businesses. Businesses have to move to urban areas to be able to compete on the same terms.

Other

For example:

• Carers
• Parents
• Ex- offenders
• Pregnant Women

• Opening hours, accessibility of information, cost and availability of relief care.  

• Mobility /Accessibility, transport, parking.

• Toilet facilities