This 3 year project with 6 partners aims to combine the need to improve the Digital, Literacy and Numeracy (DLN) skills of adults with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities with an individual’s desire to exercise more choice and control over their lives, by becoming involved in supported decision making (SDM) affecting themselves in 3 key area – personal finance, healthcare and consumer rights. The project also aims to improve the opportunities for and levels of social inclusion of people as a result of these activities. With the help of a local ‘supporter’ and some dedicated materials around each of these three areas, people with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities will be encouraged to learn how to do things (eg budgeting, understanding money, and health monitoring, opening a bank account etc) all of which will require them to work on and improve their DLN skills. This will enable them to have more say in decision which affect their lives on a day to day basis. Training programmes for supporters will be provided, along with capacity building capabilities through a Train the Trainer Course. Guides for users, families, supporters, managers and staff and ‘decision makers’ (trustees, directors etc) will explain how it all works and what SDM is. Supporting organisations will be invited to sign up to a public SDM Charter to demonstrate their support and commitment. The project will explore the possibility of finding local formal methods of assessing DLN skills at low entry levels, so that learning can be recognised. Improvements in DLN skill levels and the capacity to become involved in decision making will be noted over the three years. Other developments, such as improved social inclusion and a any reduction in difficult behaviour, will also be noted. Local User groups will be set up to assist the project’s growth and development. The potential impact of the project is significant, affecting not only the individual being helped, but also their families and friends, their own ‘supporter’, other staff and services. Adult education services may be affected in that this project aims to demonstrate an effective but alternative way of providing adult education in DLN skills, which may lead to pressure for them to adopt and/or support it elsewhere.
This 3 year project with 6 partners aims to combine the need to improve the Digital, Literacy and Numeracy (DLN) skills of adults with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities with an individual’s desire to exercise more choice and control over their lives, by becoming involved in supported decision making (SDM) affecting themselves in 3 key areas – personal finance, healthcare and consumer rights. The project also aims to improve the opportunities for and levels of social inclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs) as a result of these activities. With the help of a local ‘supporter’ and a dedicated methodology (manuals, training and complementary tools such as an 'SDM Agreement', 'Individualised SDM Plan', and evaluation tools) around each of these three areas, people with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities become encouraged to learn how to improve their personal autonomy and independence in different spheres of life (e.g.eg budgeting, understanding money, and health monitoring, opening a bank account, etc) all of which will require them to work on and improve their DLN skills. This will enable them to have more say in decision which affect their lives on a day to day basis. Training programmes for supporters have been provided, along with capacity building capabilities through a Train the Trainer Course. Guides for users, families, supporters, managers, staff and ‘decision makers’ (trustees, directors etc) explaining the core context of SDM, how the I-DECIDE Methodology works and how to implement it in practice have been produced. Supporting organisations have been invited to sign up to a public SDM Charter to demonstrate their support and commitment. The project explored the possibility of finding local formal methods of assessing DLN skills at low entry levels, so that learning can be recognised. Improvements in DLN skill levels and the capacity to become involved in decision making had been progressively increased for PWDs during the lifecycle of the project. Other developments, such as improved social inclusion and a reduction in conflicts between professionals and persons with disabilities, not knowing how to apply a SDM methodology have been tackled. Local User groups will be set up to assist the project’s growth and development. The potential impact of the project is significant, affecting not only the individual being helped, but also their families and friends, their own ‘supporter’, other staff and services. Adult education services may be affected in that this project aims to demonstrate an effective but alternative way of providing adult education in DLN skills, which may lead to pressure for them to adopt and/or support it elsewhere.