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Multimedia Advocacy
Using Multimedia To Have A Voice
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Multimedia can provide effective tools to help overcome communication challenges for people with little or no conventional communication, allowing them to make choices and have a say in the decision making processes that affect their lives.
The Rix Centre is looking at different technologies in the form of digital cameras, sound recording and other digital media and exploring ways in which these can be used to help empower people with more severe or profound learning disabilities, helping them to capture, recall and organise their thoughts and then communicate them more effectively. The use of photographic images and other visual forms can make communication more accessible for people with learning disabilities and stimulate more effective engagement in the process. Sound can be used in creative ways to record an individual´s own voice or sounds that are important to them: a piece of music or the voice of someone significant in their lives.
Valuing People (DH 2001) promotes person centred approaches to the care of those with disabilities where the views and preferences of individual service-users form the basis for the carer´s professional practice and services are shaped accordingly. This means that the wishes and needs of the individual, however severe their intellectual or communication impairment, need to be understood and recorded to inform the planning and support that carers provide. Use of multimedia technologies helps to widen the scope and capability for carers to achieve effective communication by providing tools with which they can develop personalised and accessible records and plans together with their service users.
Multimedia is already used by a number of organisations supporting people with communication needs. John Ladle at ´Acting Up´ in North London has pioneered Multimedia Profiling with a focus around its use with adults who have high support needs. Multimedia Profiling makes effective use of video and for those with more profound learning disabilities to help them to communicate their needs, wishes and achievements to others. Video playback facilities provide the opportunity to observe in more detail things that may have gone unnoticed in day-to-day life. For one service user, the simple observation that she likes sugar in her tea had escaped the attention of some of the staff team caring for her until highlighted when reviewing the video.
Other organisations focus on different applications for multimedia advocacy. Home Farm Trust´s ´Karten CTEC Centre´ in Oxfordshire uses a Life Story approach while Mencap´s Trans-active team work with teenagers who have significant learning disabilities to produce multimedia Passports with teenage ´peer supporters´ helping them make choices around Transition. In each of these approaches, multimedia provides a useful channel to involve service users working together with their supporters to tell their own stories and have a say in their own lives. Once produced this importantly, belongs to the service user and can be kept by them for their own use to help them to communicate and self advocate. A value of multimedia technology is its flexibility, information stored can easily be altered to suit an individual´s changing wishes.
The Rix Centre has developed courses to empower professionals to understand the value and importance of the person centred processes required to produce accessible and personalised multimedia records and plans. Work produced by students on the course has been interesting in its diversity such as the development of a travel plan together with a service user with mild learning disabilities. This involved taking personalised photographs of the things required before setting off on their journey: money, watch etc the journey itself and different landmarks on the way. For this service user, having a travel plan has facilitated the opportunity for independent travel to and from work. Another student has used multimedia to create an interactive powerpoint CV.
Multimedia advocacy is process driven using a camera, video and computer in work with people who have learning disabilities has value as a process of assisted communication in its own right. Taking a person-centred approach so that service users are involved takes time. Multimedia advocacy provides valuable tools that allow those with communication difficulties ownership of their plans and records, rather like having ´an accessible filing cabinet´ that helps to shift the power relationships entailed in supporting people around and getting the focus onto the individual and placing them at the centre.
The Multimedia Advocacy Course is a 12 week (1/2 day per week 1-5 pm) professional development course accredited at 20 university credits at level 0 (equivalent to Level 3 NVQ).
The Rix Centre is looking at different technologies in the form of digital cameras, sound recording and other digital media and exploring ways in which these can be used to help empower people with more severe or profound learning disabilities, helping them to capture, recall and organise their thoughts and then communicate them more effectively. The use of photographic images and other visual forms can make communication more accessible for people with learning disabilities and stimulate more effective engagement in the process. Sound can be used in creative ways to record an individual´s own voice or sounds that are important to them: a piece of music or the voice of someone significant in their lives.
Valuing People (DH 2001) promotes person centred approaches to the care of those with disabilities where the views and preferences of individual service-users form the basis for the carer´s professional practice and services are shaped accordingly. This means that the wishes and needs of the individual, however severe their intellectual or communication impairment, need to be understood and recorded to inform the planning and support that carers provide. Use of multimedia technologies helps to widen the scope and capability for carers to achieve effective communication by providing tools with which they can develop personalised and accessible records and plans together with their service users.
Multimedia is already used by a number of organisations supporting people with communication needs. John Ladle at ´Acting Up´ in North London has pioneered Multimedia Profiling with a focus around its use with adults who have high support needs. Multimedia Profiling makes effective use of video and for those with more profound learning disabilities to help them to communicate their needs, wishes and achievements to others. Video playback facilities provide the opportunity to observe in more detail things that may have gone unnoticed in day-to-day life. For one service user, the simple observation that she likes sugar in her tea had escaped the attention of some of the staff team caring for her until highlighted when reviewing the video.
Other organisations focus on different applications for multimedia advocacy. Home Farm Trust´s ´Karten CTEC Centre´ in Oxfordshire uses a Life Story approach while Mencap´s Trans-active team work with teenagers who have significant learning disabilities to produce multimedia Passports with teenage ´peer supporters´ helping them make choices around Transition. In each of these approaches, multimedia provides a useful channel to involve service users working together with their supporters to tell their own stories and have a say in their own lives. Once produced this importantly, belongs to the service user and can be kept by them for their own use to help them to communicate and self advocate. A value of multimedia technology is its flexibility, information stored can easily be altered to suit an individual´s changing wishes.
The Rix Centre has developed courses to empower professionals to understand the value and importance of the person centred processes required to produce accessible and personalised multimedia records and plans. Work produced by students on the course has been interesting in its diversity such as the development of a travel plan together with a service user with mild learning disabilities. This involved taking personalised photographs of the things required before setting off on their journey: money, watch etc the journey itself and different landmarks on the way. For this service user, having a travel plan has facilitated the opportunity for independent travel to and from work. Another student has used multimedia to create an interactive powerpoint CV.
Multimedia advocacy is process driven using a camera, video and computer in work with people who have learning disabilities has value as a process of assisted communication in its own right. Taking a person-centred approach so that service users are involved takes time. Multimedia advocacy provides valuable tools that allow those with communication difficulties ownership of their plans and records, rather like having ´an accessible filing cabinet´ that helps to shift the power relationships entailed in supporting people around and getting the focus onto the individual and placing them at the centre.
The Multimedia Advocacy Course is a 12 week (1/2 day per week 1-5 pm) professional development course accredited at 20 university credits at level 0 (equivalent to Level 3 NVQ).
We also deliver one day sessions to organisations introducing the concept of Multimedia Advocacy, providing examples of ways that this can be achieved and incorporating a hands on workshop session through which some of the ideas can be experienced.
For more information please contact:
Gosia Nowicka,
Course Co-ordinator,
The Rix Centre,
University of East London,
Docklands Campus, London E16 2RD
Tel:020 8223 7632
Tel:020 8223 7632