Blogs and articles

"Health inequalities is a topic close to my heart and thankfully the NHS Long Term plan goes some way to address it.

Kate Sibthorp is a mum to a daughter with learning disabilities and autism. She is also a member of the National Co-production Advisory Group (NCAG).

Care and support planning is part of the self-directed support process, but is not always done well.

Clenton Farquharson MBE, chair of Think Local Act Personal, gave the following speech at ADASS Spring Seminar on the care that he wants. He pays tribute to the person-centred approach of his social worker and makes a plea for delegates to remember their moral and legal duty to put people’s wellbeing front and centre.

TLAP chair Clenton Farquharson’s latest blog is a response to some of the challenges in social care as discussed at the ADASS Spring seminar.

Katie, a member of Shropshire Council’s Making it Real board and someone accessing services locally, discusses a life changing day in her life shadowing the Director of Adult Services and Making it Real in Shropshire.

There are no surprises in an evaluation that shows disabled people benefit from getting involved in physical activity – that’s a given, and was one of the findings from the ‘Get Yourself Active’ project.

Does anyone love Valentine’s Day? Apart from the shops selling cards, flowers, chocolates and romantic dinners?

Caroline Speirs, Head of Think Local Act Personal, blogs about shifting power and unlocking traditional mind sets with Making it Real.

Former Care Minister Norman Lamb MP, supporter of TLAP and advocate for Making it Real discusses his frustrations with the social care system and why the Making it Real framework can support meaningful change.

As mum to a young woman with learning disabilities and autism, Kate’s been thinking about how Making it Real could inspire personal assistants and support staff to help people like her daughter achieve their New Year’s resolutions.

The Making it Real I statement, “I know what my rights are and can get information and advice on all the options for my health, care and housing” applies to carers and also to the people we care for. It is matched by the We statement, “We make sure people know their legal rights and responsibilities”.

Chris Jeffery, a person with lived experience and campaigner for paid carer's leave at Mending the Gap, offers his hopes for the Green paper and a practical solution that employers adopt Making it Real. 

For many the experience of being interviewed to check for eligibility for a personal independence payment can be demoralising and disempowering. Pamela Holmes, consultant and novelist recounts her friend's experience.

Personalised care is an increasing priority for the delivery of NHS services, to ensure people have more choice and control over the way their care is planned and delivered.

Do you worry about who’s going to love your children when you’re gone? I do. And so do other parents who have sons and daughters who need support.

Recently I have been giving some thought to technology. This is not my natural state, as people who know me will testify, as I am a self-diagnosed ‘late adopter’.

Hi everyone me and Vicky are both Leading on Self Advocate in the Wirral.

Co-production – it’s about professionals and people with lived experience making decisions together, right?

Laura Bell from National Voices tells us about the role of the voluntary sector in delivering Personal Health Budgets and offers valuable tips for collaborative working with CCGs.