The Broken Record

In order not to sound like a broken record, it is time to put a chapter of my life to the side for a while at least. After writing 150 blogs, which have been accessed approximately 50,000 times all surrounding the theme of social care, health , personlisation,  change,  equalities, inclusion and some personal ethos's,  systems and improvments  it is I think time to stop and focus in other areas of need. I will still continue to help and advise individuals who come to me for help. However, I will not be actively out there trying to help. My blogs if you've missed any  can be found here: https://haloabletec.blogspot.com/?m=1

I am not giving up, I just believe that I have said what I need to say on these subjects. I am taking some time to reevaluate. Adjust my compass and ensure my direction is achieving what people need. Try and think of new approaches and solutions to the issues, rather than the usual its not working. 

Wherever possible, I have not just brought to attention the issues but always strived to offer solutions as well. I try to see problems and issues as challenges or opportunities to try and make things better if i can. Have I? Well I hope so. I know I have helped many many individuals and I know a lot of the ideas written in my blogs or I think they are my ideas seem to appear to be in motion. The resources that I have developed all relating to people's needs have also been accessed and used thousands of times. All for free and not just by public but people who work on the front line too.

If you wonder where I get my subject material from, it is not mine, I have to thank the general public for that, I write what I hear and see from a number of online and personal sources and advocasywork that i do. Through the great communites of carers and people with disabilities.

This is one the first points that people in public authorities and organisations need to know. Stop asking what the problems are, stop doing surveys and then writing reports that sit on shelves that a few interested people look at, pat on the back and move on. Do not do meetings inviting people to come and share (public authorities just love their meetings), the voices are out there. Check your social media feeds and just listen to what is being said and get out and talk to people. Talk to your communities, the people are there and happy to tell you. It is so simple yet I see so little of it done. Ask them what are the solutions and they will tell you that too, then act on it. So much time, effort and money could be saved. This does not just relate to the main population but those who are labelled hard to reach, they are not really, have you actually gone and looked? I have spoken to lots of people from these backgrounds and asked them if they know who their equalities/inclusion/involvment representative is locally from the public authorities and other voluntary and charitable organisations. I often get blank faces. If your not at their open days, fetes, sessions they run, why do you expect them to come to yours? It's your job to get involvment not theirs.

The second big issue that has come to my attention is the need for better education. Not only for the public, but for people who work within these organisations themselves. Being a nurse or a social worker with a degree does not make the person a good assessor, these skills need nurturing and training. My experience of such personnel is that they often have little understanding of the complexities of the local authorities processes, policies and legislation. 

One such area is people talking about wellbeing, without actually relating it to sec 1 of the Care Act which actually tells you what it is and how it works. On this subject stick to the ethos and values of what you are trying to achieve. Each piece of produced documentation whether legal or internal/external  process seems to start with this idea, then seems to go on to every reason to deviate from it. The Care Act is no different, it starts with wellbeing and then goes on to show what you need to do to make it happen. Most people seem to miss this.

Thirdly and a constant reminder, remember who your audience is, and speak to their level and understanding. Many letters, forms, processes and reports use  terminology.  Which people who use your services just do not speak that way. A often quoted reference of mine from health inequalities is the average reading age of people is 12. If you are creating a resource or sharing some information then it should be accessible and read simply to cater to a wider audience. Not forgetting accessable formats. You don't have to just provide these, but when you are asked it is a legal requirement to provide.

Next comes the planning, I know lots of organisations have plans but they always start with what we need to do. Starting with the organisations needs rather than what people need and ask for is why in my view most result in failure. It is not your authority, your NHS, your Government, it is the peoples. Until we start with this principle, your starting with failure. Please do not just jump on the next band wagon, support it for a while and then start with something new. I have learnt from my work over the last ten years in advocacy that things take time. My 150 blogs took over 5 years, and the readership took time to build up. It is a slow process, and you need to check and stay on course, moving slowly towards your destination. 

Too often I see huge shifts to the left and then to the right, without any checking to see if on the correct course, jumping in the direction to the next buzz idea. Mostly the same ones from before just renamed -  ie co-production, personalisation,  these should be standard practise by now. It seems we run our important organisations like the new fashion industry. Gone are the esteemed labels of quality and class, everyones on the bandwagon like fast fashion. Slow down, talk, think, plan, try, evaluate, adjust, and keep moving. Life goes on and it will continue to do so. Change is not always necessary, but the need to adapt to the changing environment is. 

Finally and something we always seem to miss is to learn from our mistakes. Do not be afraid of failing, some of my best work has come from mistakes and failures. Embrace them and ask what went wrong, what can I do better?. Evaluate and move forward. So much excellent work and ideas are left at the wayside at the first hurdle or forgotten after the initial huge surge. Things take time to be put in place. We are not perfect, we are meant to make mistakes, that is what learning and growing is all about. Instead of looking for scapegoats lets look at helping each other fulfil our potential. It is not about me, it is about us. 

At last some thank yous firstly and always to people out there. It is you who inspire me to do better. There is a lot of good out there, it may not feel like it but involve yourself with people and look in to hearts. You will see it. So thank you for sharing your concerns which has inspired me to do more and hopefully help a little.

Thank you to my daughter Hana who has spent many years proofreading my blogs and giving me the confidence to write especially with dyslexia. For too long that confidence was shattered by people telling me I could not write ( I did not even know that I was dyslexic until my 30s). As my daughter has gone on to do other things, the proofreading most recently has been taken over by some of my fabulous carers, the Amazonian  Millie, and the always bringing it back to happiness Stasia. Thanks guys. 

I will leave you with my  personal ethos (borrowed)  - you are as you choose to be, sometimes it needs an act of discipline, but it can be done.