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THE DC100

A model for successful consultation with disabled people & carers in a rural area

How to design and implement an effective method of consultation with disabled people

Contents
The problem The solution The tool The 6 step plan A case study The Unitary Authority survey sample Press release What can be achieved The bonus feature The learning points The last word 3 4 5 6-8 9 10 - 11 12 13 14 15-16 17

The problem
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We used to provide a consultation service through holding physical meetings of small groups of people for service providers to meet and consult with direct. This allowed our organisation to generate income and gave an opportunity for our members to influence and shape future services. However, the Consultation Panels presented us with the following problems:

Cornwall has poor public transport, hardly any of it accessible and therefore it proved costly and labour intensive to source private accessible transport

Difficult for people to attend meetings as the county of Cornwall is over 80 miles long and many people live in highly ruralised areas Very few truly accessible meeting places available

Consultations were difficult to operate on a large scale and often the small numbers of people who could attend were usually the same people for almost every consultation panel

Hard to find a replacement if consultees had to cancel at short notice due to illness, unforeseen problems etc Lots of logistical work to organise these meetings and often expensive to hold them

Although good for obtaining personal views and experiences, the panels were too small to be viewed as representative of the views of disabled people generally

So, the question was can we find an alternative way to obtain the views and experiences of more disabled people?

The solution

M ap show ing w here the D C 100 m em bers live in C ornw all

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A former Chairman of Disability Cornwall mentioned how good it would be if could have a type of Citizens Jury which would comprise a large enough number of disabled people to be a representative group for us to consult with as and when the need arose. Combining that and the problems encountered with the consultation service, plus a little bit of creative thinking the DC100 was born! To be eligible to join the DC100 we would need some basic eligibility criteria. We set that as follows: Be a disabled person or a carer Have access to email and check it frequently Happy to receive and complete one survey per month for a period of one year The three most fruitful ways of recruiting DC100 members proved to be: 1) Rent a crowd! Recruiting existing members, friends and people we knew to get us up and running

2) Displaying leaflets about the DC100 and the benefits it could bring
for the voice of the disabled peoples movement at relevant events
3)

Incorporating details for sign up to the DC100 into our existing membership form / packs
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The tool (www.surveymonkey.com)


It is free to use the basic Survey Monkey software programme. It cost 136.31 for a one year subscription which gave us unlimited use with all the frills.

The

Monkey:provides us with the opportunity to gain the greater geographical spread we were looking for without holding physical meetings

enables us to hold a database of participants, design surveys and email them to everyone with just one click

is easy to use. You can design questions requiring only a simple tick box or multiple choice answer, although you can insert spaces for the 100 member to add in more information if they wish, providing you with more qualitative and anecdotal data

collects all the information so its easy for us to see what people are saying, such as 80% of people said access was poor.

is the best type of survey tool for people who have visual impairments and use reader activated software set questions as compulsory to answer prior to moving on to the next question to ensure you get a thorough response and people dont skip or miss any

The six step plan


Using a simple 6-step process we are using the versatile DC100 for all of the following: A) To explore what the concerns of disabled people are at a local level across Cornwall so we may raise awareness of social policy type issues both through the media and our magazine, Discover. B) A valuable consultation service which we offer to service providers and charge for accordingly A tool through which we source the views of our members to shape

C)

own organisations future development

1) Identify the purpose for which you need a survey


A) What is the subject you wish to consult with your 100 on and why? Has a matter been brought to your attention such as inequality, lack of access, discrimination etc? B) Talk to the service provider regarding what they want to consult the 100 about. Give them guidance regarding keeping questions user friendly and discuss what outcome they want to achieve C) Is there something happening within your own organisation with which the views and experiences of your constituents / members could help shape and develop?

2) Compose the survey and send it to your 100


Remember to keep the survey easy read and keep the layout user friendly. Use the covering email to introduce the subject you are
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surveying, with further detail included at the top of the survey, but dont go overboard, less is more! Stick to just one subject and remember to set a date for when you want the surveys to be returned by. You will need dedicated staff for designing surveys in-house, but for a service provider buying your service why not request they set the questions for you?

3) Analyse the results


Survey Monkey will collect the results together and tell you how many people filled in the survey, what they wanted and what they said. It also presents the information in a percentage format for you.

4) Decide what you want to do with the information


A)

If its a social policy type issue, then consider how you can best raise awareness of what your 100 are saying, a press release maybe? Find a hook to hang it on and be aware the media often look for punchy headlines, so to avoid Helping hand for the disabled or some equal horror, try and suggest a good headline in your press release which sums up your story in five words or less. There are some key things to know when writing a press release; layout is important, make sure you can clearly identify it as a press release, date it including an embargo date if relevant, then start with the most important bit of information, ensuring the first paragraph addresses the who, what, when, where, how and whys and then descend the information in order of importance. Always put notes to the editors at the end comprising relevant background information and a telephone number they can contact you on for further details. Look at the newspapers house style and try and tailor your press release to it increasing your chances of getting published. Maybe you could consider a copywriting / press release workshop for your team?
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B)

If you have been commissioned to do the survey by a service provider then all you simply have to do is to print off the survey results and send to them!

C)

If you are using the survey for the benefit of your own organisation, you may want to call a meeting to consider the surveys findings or present it to your Trustee Board or project steering group.

5) Follow it up
Always call to check your press release has been received and to make contact in general. If the newspapers dont use it, what alternative options do you have, local TV, websites, another relevant publication, or can you rephrase the press release to make it more attractive to the newshounds! Talk to the service provider. Are they happy with the results obtained and would they perhaps like a more specific survey now? Also ask how they will be using the information obtained from your 100.
N.B Keep on their case and ensure they have put the survey results to good use!

6) Feedback
It is always best practice to give feedback to everyone involved in the survey, but especially the 100 themselves, so they feel included and will know their time was well spent and that their concerns and opinions are important and valued.

A case study to show how the DC100 process worked from start to finish for us
On 1 April 2009 Cornwall County Council and its six district councils became one unitary authority, the largest in the country and to be known as Cornwall Council. Previously, Disability Cornwall had challenged the County Council to improve access to its buildings for disabled people and because of this, as part of the process of change, Disability Cornwall was one of the organisations who submitted a tender to access audit all of the proposed One Stop Shop sites around the county. One of these shops was to be situated in each of the 22 towns and large villages in Cornwall. Our tender was unsuccessful and the work went to an organisation out of county, but part of their task was to engage with local disabled people to discover what the problems were. We were randomly hearing back from our members about issues concerning the shops so, when the DC100 was established we designed a survey to find out whether the experiences of disabled people accessing Cornwall Council services had now improved. Follows: A sample of our survey. A sample of our press release which we then sent to Cornwalls local weekly media including The Cornishman, West Briton and Cornish Guardian newspapers (tailoring it slightly to make it relevant to each publications geographical area).

Unitary Authority Survey


1. Cornwall Council One Stop Shops
100%

On 1st April 2009 Cornwall County Council and the former six district council's became one unitary authority known as Cornwall Council. Disability Cornwall would like to find out whether the experiences of disabled people accessing Cornwall Council services have now improved. As a disabled peoples' organisation, we are here to represent your views and we intend to use the findings of this survey in a press release to the local media. All responses will be anonymous unless you wish to be identified; it would be very helpful to have a quote if you would like to give us one. Please tick all that apply to you and type any comments in the boxes provided. We are very grateful for your assistance and would appreciate it if you would complete this survey by Tuesday 27th October. 1. Are You:
A person with a disability A carer A parent / carer

2. Cornwall Council now has 22 One Stop Shops (one in each of the major towns in Cornwall). Have you visited any?
Yes No

3. Which One Stop Shop did you visit?

5. How easy is it to get to the One Stop Shop using public transport?
Easy Not easy N/A
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If you have said not easy please tell us why

7. When you arrived at the One Stop Shop how would you rate the following?
Excellent Provision of accessible parking? Level of the ground outside? Ease of finding the entrance? Accessibility of entrance ramp/doors? Provision of handrails and or large door handles? Satisfactory Poor N/A

8. Once inside the One Stop Shop how would you rate the following?
Excellent Ease of moving around in the building? The welcome you received from staff? Accessibility of facilities? (E.g. low level reception counter / clear interior signs etc.) Consideration of communication needs? (E.g. hearing loop / information in alternative formats) Suitability of accessible toilets?
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Satisfactory

Poor

N/A

Embargo: immediate PRESS RELEASE

30 October 2009

One Stop Shops, What One Stop Shops?


Local disabled peoples organisation, Disability Cornwall, have carried out a survey with consultation determine Cornwall service has made available in had actually disabled The charity to learn that consulted heard of the Shops, in this year. Chair of Cornwall, said: This Disability Steve Paget, their DC100 panel, to whether Councils new structure, which more services each locality, benefited people. was staggered 64% of those had not even new One Stop place since April

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What can be achieved?


Perhaps the most important part of this consultation process is what impact the outcome of the survey has had. The DC100 could easily become disillusioned if they didnt feel their views were being put to good use. Think BBCs Crimewatch update have any of those phone calls actually led to anything, has justice been done to any of the criminals featured? So, thinking of our One Stop Shop survey, what did we do with the information gathered? Firstly, the press release did get featured in the local press as we hoped, but the DC100 really came up trumps when the BBC Politics Show picked up the story. It was not exactly surprising that Cornwall Council themselves kept quiet in the immediate aftermath of the TV programme being aired, but a few weeks later we learnt that access improvements to the particular One Stop Shop featured on the Politics Show had now been prioritised. A close eye is being kept on an apparent 70,000 of planned improvements! Secondly, our colleagues who manage the Voluntary Sector Forum have arranged for us to attend a meeting with Cornwall Councils Chief Executives Department to talk about the survey, its subsequent publicity and what we expect the council to do about the issues raised. So, if you can and its appropriate to your particular survey, aim for some TV exposure! This can seriously raise the stakes and increases pressure on the service provider concerned to act on the situation you are drawing the publics attention to. It also gave our organisation some welcome recognition as the collective voice for disabled people in Cornwall.

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The Bonus Feature BBC 1 The Politics Show

The learning points

Be clear about your expectations of the 100 in terms of how

often you will send surveys and over what period of time. As an example, clarify how many surveys you will send and how often Surveys can be difficult to compose as the questions need to be phrased correctly to ensure you obtain the information you require. Consider training for your staff

We try and keep to a limit of no more than 15 separate questions concerning one subject matter only, per survey

Surveys will take more time to produce to a good standard than you may think, so allow time for this Test out the survey beforehand with colleagues or friends to ensure it works and to iron out any difficulties

Get training for relevant people. Copywriting / press release workshops may be provided by a local PR Company. Also, could the local universitys research department provide training for composing questions?

There may be times when you may need to ask your 100 members if they are interested in providing further information regarding a specific subject where appropriate. Therefore, clarify what contact details you require such as a telephone number

Holding detailed information on your 100 could help with specific targeted surveys, such as how many are carers or have a sensory impairment etc. We are currently looking into whether this is feasible taking into consideration the Data Protection Act

People can change their email address and may not think to let you know, but some email servers will not allow multiple emails to be sent if just one email is wrong and then nobody will receive the survey at all Not everybody goes online daily and so may not complete your survey for a while. If its time sensitive then you may have to follow up with a phone call People can be put off responding if they do not understand the subject the survey is about, so ensure you give a clear overview of it, which the monkey allows you to do in addition to a covering email

Make the surveys regular so as to keep the interest of the 100 or at least a short email to keep in touch

Thank your consultees and give them feedback so they know how their information was used and how valued their contribution has been Offering small rewards such as a 20 Marks & Spencer voucher can result in quicker responses Above all else, keep it simple

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The Last Word

So what has our experience shown us? It shows us that an effective model for consultation such as the DC100
can have a direct and positive impact, as demonstrated by our experience with the One Stop Shop in St Ives. But also that the effects are multiple and various, and can have far reaching and lasting affects on the design and delivery of the organisation as a whole. Our DC100 has the potential to become a driver for positive change, feeding in the views of disabled people countywide. It enables us to be more representative as the countys pan-disability ULO and it hasnt escaped our notice that it could become a significant income generator and yet another quality service of real value a ULO can provide. Our DC100 will also serve as an invaluable touchstone, providing us with the intelligence we need to drive a rights-based agenda forward towards lasting and positive improvements to ensure that choice, independence and control is fully realised for people in Cornwall.

Published by: Disability Cornwall Units 1G & H Guildford Rd Industrial Estate Hayle Cornwall TR27 4QZ T/Minicom: 01736 759500 E: info@disabilitycornwall.org.uk
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