Aids and services for disabled people-getting the message across

Information about aids and services for disabled people has two primary target audiences - the administrators and the disabled recipients - and their needs and problems are different. The administrators experience problems with the diversity and poor quality of information available to them, making it difficult for them to keep up-to-date in all relevant areas without becoming massively overloaded. The disabled themselves suffer from problems related to the whole information dissemination system. They are often referred from one agency to another and are frequently required to extract information rather than having it freely volunteered. Their decreased functional ability, mobility, motivation and sometimes educational level compound this problem so that many disabled people frequently fail to find out about their entitlements. Two areas of information availability causing great problems to both groups are those of aids and financial assistance. Aids supplied to disabled people in their own homes are currently much underused and the take-up rate for financial benefits is frequently quite low. Some solutions to these problems include improvements in the quality of information available to both groups by ensuring more appropriate form and content, communication medium and distribution points. The recognition that most people prefer to ask for information rather than seek it out from written sources is important since the provision of a 'named' person employed by Local Authorities in this capacity would contribute greatly to the improved dissemination of information.