Sheffield Learning Disabilities Partnership Board believes that communication is very important. We want to make a difference to the lives of people with learning disabilities in Sheffield by improving two way communication.
The Learning Disabilities Partnership Board set up a project to develop a Communication Framework, for implementation across Sheffield. We wanted to help people to communicate better by:
- identifying best practice
- looking at which approaches work
- using these approaches across all settings
- finding out how we can support you and your communication
This communication project was called 'My Voice, My Choice'.
Survey - January - February 2009
We produced a questionnaire for providers of services, staff, carers and service users to find out what everyone thinks about communication.
We used the questionnaires to collect experiences of good practice, where people have difficulties, what the gaps are and what might help.
Stakeholder event - 25 February 2009
The learning from this survey formed the basis for a wider open event for all stakeholders. The aim of the one day event was to involve as many people as possible in refining the Framework and identifying ways to roll out good practice and begin to deal with the barriers and gaps identified.
Consultation with groups - April - July 2009
Following the stakeholder event, we visited lots of different groups to ask everyone for their views about communication. We consulted with groups of people with a learning disability, carers, support workers and members of staff and they all told us what they thought.
We have written a report about the project, explaining all the things we have done, and what people have said to us.
The project Steering Group have also met together to look at everyone’s ideas to make communication better for people with a learning disability. From these ideas we have come up with lots of different projects that we could do to make communication better in Sheffield
You can find out more about what everyone said about communication and the ideas we have to make things better by reading our project report. There is an Easy Read version of the report, as well as the long version. You can download them at the bottom of the page.
Now the Learning Disabilities Partnership Board needs to decide which projects it thinks are the most important and which projects we do first.
We need to look at how much each project will cost. The Partnership Board needs to decide how much money it wants to spend on them.
Then we can make more detailed plans for the projects that the Partnership Board wants to do first.
We will talk about these projects at the Partnership Board meeting on 21 December 2009. We would like the Partnership Board to help us to plan these projects.
If you have any questions about the 'My Voice, My Choice' project or our plans for what happens next, please contact Sarah Adams on (0114) 203 9325 or by email at ldwebsite@sheffield.gov.uk
