Disability History Month 2024 - Disability, Livelihood and Employment

In the UK, we recognise Disability History Month each year with a new agenda. Previously, the focus has been on Sex and relationships, Disability and art, Hate crime and more. This year, 2024, Disability History Month will focus on “Disability, Livelihood and Employment”. While governmental statistics show that disabled employment is trending steadily upwards, compared to similar stats from 2023, the struggle to bring disabled employment figures up to that of non-disabled people continues.

Roadblocks for employees

If you are a non-disabled person, then the barriers that disabled people face every day at work, may be alien to you. Disabled people can face issues from physical access to buildings, video-conferences that don’t have subtitles or IT that doesn’t support general text reading.

But not all barriers are physical. Some barriers can be organisational (having incredibly rigid absence policies or performance targets), some attitudinal (making assumptions of people based on pre-existing stereotypes) or social (exclusion from social events).?

At CareCo, we’re doing our bit to help make disabled worker’s lives that bit more comfortable. We offers a range of products designed to enhance the independence and job satisfaction of individuals with disabilities. Our mobility scooters provide reliable transportation, such as the X-Go Advance, for instance, is agile enough for both indoor and outdoor use, making it suitable for both commuting and manoeuvring within office environments.?

Comfortable and supportive seating is crucial for maintaining productivity in the workplace too, so we offer a range of adapted seating solutions, such as the Deluxe Fleece Support Pillow, which provides increased comfort and orthopedically shaped support, which helps users to maintain proper posture during extended periods of sitting.?

With these and other products, we help employees with disabilities to overcome a range of mobility challenges, to ensure they can perform their job roles effectively and with greater independence.?

When the world came to a standstill during the COVID-19 pandemic, the working world changed for everyone, disabled and non-disabled alike. Working from home became the mandate, desperately tuning into the daily news briefing on the BBC to find out when we’d be allowed some human contact again

But now, in a post-COVID world, working from home has become the norm. For many, this can be a blessing in disguise - after all, your home will likely be most well-adjusted to you and your disability, so working from home, in most jobs, will be better than forcing yourself into the office - this is especially true for people like Sandra, who able to return to part time work, helping remotely with admin for the local nursery. The various mobility aids she has at home have helped her to work from home with greater ease.

How we're doing our bit!

At CareCo, we take our responsibilities as a disability-conscious employer very seriously. “CareCo were extremely fortunate to already work with individuals who would be classified as having a disability - ranging from partially sighted, deafness, amputees and autism,” says Jane Bunting, Head of Human Resources at CareCo. Reasonable adjustments have been made to accommodate these disabilities, such as special computer screens, accessibility access for wheelchair users and more. “this has enabled us to automatically be accepted as a tier 1 Disability Confident Employer, and we are working towards our tier 2 certification now, by ensuring that all our recruitment advertising is visible to all, rather than just in the main stream recruitment websites”.??

By adopting flexible policies, providing adaptive technology, and investing in inclusive hiring practices, companies can not only support a diverse workforce but can also enhance productivity and foster innovation. A commitment to accessibility and promoting a culture where everyone can thrive, benefits both everyone, from employees, to employers to customers.

We urge you to support Disability History Month in any way you can. If you can help to raise awareness or give whatever you can, you will be making a huge difference to the lives of so many.