This Forum relates to a Department of Health Funded project on Inclusive Practice in Long Term Neurological Conditions.

Approximately 10m people in the UK have a neurological condition with 350k people needing help with daily living. There are approximately 850k people caring for someone with a neurological condition. They account for 20% of acute hospital admissions and are the third most common reason for seeing a GP. For most people the illness/injury has life-long consequences (DH 2005 p10).

This research seeks to find out whether there is a link between the way people with neurological impairments are included in the NHS community and the way they use knowledge from treatment to develop their skills and independence.

It will:-

1.  identify current perceptions of service delivery

2.  investigate understandings of integrated and inclusive practice

3.  map what inclusion looks/feels like for people using neuro-rehabilitation services

4.  articulate the impact of current forms of inclusive practice on the lives of service users

5.  identify enablers and barriers to inclusive practice

6.  provide holistic knowledge and a set of principles to support the development of more inclusive, effective service delivery

7.  develop a body of knowledge on inclusive practice and its impact

The site is only open to those who are part of this project.  If you want more information about this project please contact one of the site managers who will be happy to help.

Tina Cook: tina.cook@northumbria.ac.uk

Helen Atkin: helen.atkin@northumbria.ac.uk

Eileen Birks: e.birks@northumbria.ac.uk