Discussion on disability rights, social care and change with Neil Crowther – Inclusion Europe Radio

Neil Crowther and Milan Šveřepa talk about what social care is and how the disability rights movement has influenced its meaning.

Discussion on disability rights, social care and change with Neil Crowther - Inclusion Europe Radio

Neil Crowther is an

Neil Crowther. Source: Neil's LinkedIn

independent social change consultant from the United Kingdom. He previously worked for the Disability Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the UK.

 

 

 

 

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In this episode we talked about:

 

[02:22] What is Social Care Future?

Social Care Future is a social change movement which believes that people should be able to lead great lives. As well as something that has to be done in the future to facilitate and support it.

 

[07:09] Pillars of social care

Social Care Future has five pillars:

  1. communities where everyone belongs,
  2. living in the place we call home,
  3. leading the lives we want to live,
  4. more resources better used, and
  5. sharing power as equals.

How were these five pillars created? Neil Crowther, and the organisation he worked with, established a conversation led by people who drew on support. So that they could be heard and participate in changing social care. The five pillars were developed by that commission and are areas that they want social care to get to in the future.

 

[11:37] NGOs have to help people understand, picture, and visualise the world we are advocating for

Neil Crowther explained that NGOs and advocates have to inspire people and give them direction. As well as, to create a sense of urgency and injustice to what is happening.

 

[16:43] Hopeful communication of social care future

Neil Crowther highlighted the importance of creating a positive narrative to change to incite people to get behind this idea of change.

 

“If you believe that you can do something, but we are not doing it and there’s no really good reason why we’re not doing it, that’s a more powerful engine of change than ‘this is really hard and really difficult’.”

 

[20:05] Using words that everybody understands

Neil Crowther pointed out that to communicate something to someone, we need to use words that make sense to the person we are talking to. So that people can imagine more easily what you are saying.

 

[22:37] Showing the results and [24:24] raising expectations

Neil Crowther highlighted the importance of showing how people who have gone through change are doing now. He also talked about the importance of lifting expectations so that people can imagine how new systems and/or organisations can transform people’s lives.

 

[26:09] How was the communication research conducted?

Neil Crowther explained the several steps that they took to reframe the narrative of social care. And how to make it more understandable for people.

 

[38:13] How is social care relevant for people in need amidst the work on communication?

Neil Crowther said that communication is one of the many tools that they use to bring about change.

 

[40:38] We need the existing resources to be used much more effectively

Neil Crowther highlighted the fact that social care is what people care less about in the UK according to Mori Ipsos (a polling agency). He again explained the importance of language in changing mindsets.

 

[45:01] Disability rights when ageing

Neil Crowther said that people’s rights shouldn’t change when they get older. Elderly people also have the right to their personhood.

 

“Those principles around being in the place you call home, about agency, about control, about a sense of belonging, being recognized. They remain important to everybody, because, fundamentally, it’s about your personhood. And the root of respect for human rights is respect for personhood.  I’ve come to the conclusion that these are universal ideals. They’re just as relevant in the last minutes of our life.”

 

[55:58] Social care as relationship-centred support

Neil Crowther talked about the individualistic idea of social care. And how it is more of a relationship-based type of support rather than a person-based one.

 

[01:00:23] The visual story

Neil Crowther explained the importance of building a visual story rather than buildings to change people’s mindset of what social care is.

 

Listen to more episodes of Inclusion Europe Radio.

For more information on Social Care Future.

Our work brings the voice of people with intellectual disabilities and their families where decisions about their future are made.

This has always been incredibly important. It is even more so with the Covid pandemic drastic impact on their rights and lives.

Being visible and vocal on issues directly affecting millions of people requires your support. 

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