Cheneys day centre is run by Scope, making it a voluntary service. Cheneys is registered as an approved provider and is open Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:00. It is an approved provider as they are able to demonstrate that they are providing a competent service, have adequate financial arrangements, provide regular staff training, have insurance, exercise health and safety and equal opportunity rights. The day service is for adults aged eighteen years and over but most of them are in their twenties and thirties.
The eldest member of the day centre is seventy-two years of age and has cerebral palsy. Most of the clients have Cerebral Palsy. All the service users either have physical or sensory impairments and learning difficulties. All have severe difficulties and therefore need a high level of support. Most of the service users need help eating and some use alternative methods of feeding like Enteral feeding where a tube is used for the delivery of nutrients to the stomach. Many of the service users use Bolus feeding where food is administered directly into the feeding tube via a syringe.
Tube feeding benefits the user by improving growth and nutritional status and frequently by improving their primary condition. Cheneys organises day to day activities which allows the clients to feel apart of the community and also to get involved in “normal” activities. The clients can choose from a wide range of activities including horse riding, pottery and gardening. This involves giving everyone the same quality of care and support. Respecting and supporting the diversity of people’s experiences, lifestyles and backgrounds.
The care workers at Cheneys ensures that a client’s background or circumstances do not affect the quality of care they receive. Each person is treated as an individual, taking into account their beliefs, abilities, likes and dislikes (known as person centred care). Communication and language barriers: Most of the service users at Cheneys have communication problems. A couple of them are also deaf; some have difficulty making speech because of impairment affecting the facial muscles. Communication methods include a variety of therapeutic strategies that increase the patient’s ability to communicate.
Patients that are unable to speak use sign language or the use of special cerebral palsy communication methods that can facilitate communication in the absence of speech capabilities. For individuals who are unable to speak effectively, tools are available to aid in communication with others. In addition to the use of sign language, cerebral palsy communication methods may also include special tools that help a patient. Computers can be used by a cerebral palsy patient to communicate what the individual wants to say.
For some people communicating through speech is difficult, or slow to develop. Many people now use Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) systems. These systems supplement or support the spoken element in communication. There are different vocabularies and languages to choose from, so the individual can use the most appropriate system. Communication barriers may lead to misinterpretation and inappropriate behaviour. Most of Cheneys’ clients are unable to speak properly therefore a lot of the time the workers have to guess what they are saying in order to help them.
Physical Barriers: Accessing “normal” environments could separate the service users from the community. It is difficult for them to be taken out into the community as many buildings don’t have the right type of facilities for disabled e. g. Toilet hoists. Members of the public also sometimes have a negative attitude towards disabled people. This attitude could have an effect on their self esteem as they can’t get into the “normal” environment. Cheneys regularly takes the clients out into the community, making sure that they don’t become isolated from not being able to mix with “normal” people and activities.
The assumption is made that disabled people aren’t intelligent and therefore can’t think or do anything for themselves. The social model of disability explains that they’re disabled because public buildings don’t make it accessible therefore they are disabled by society. Barriers may affect clients rights to access e. g. The lack of available spaces at a particular day centre. Cheneys provides transport but it may become a problem as its opening hours are 9:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon. This could start becoming a problem when the carer or family member finishes work late in the evening.
Cheneys is the only voluntary day centre service in Brighton for people with cerebral palsy. This could be a barrier as it could lead to the clients’ isolation if they can’t mix with people with a similar disability as they have. There would be a lack of stimulation if they can’t mix with people with the same disability as they have. Cheneys has a sensory room which is used specifically for stimulation. It provides a very calm environment for them to relax in. Scope’s core values are equality. The workers at Cheneys strive to act with integrity, responsibility, respect and encourage innovation.
Being constantly seen as inferior can be internalised, creating depression and low self esteem and it can cause withdrawal from people and institutions whome treat individuals in this way. Discrimination can also result in a failure to provide services that are suitable to minority groups like disabled people. Discrimination also results in failing to make any effort to reach out to the disabled with services, employment, education and housing. Discrimination may also lead to social exclusion, marginalised living, diminished life chance and disempowerment.