Community Equipment Review
The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) has recently undertaken a review of the provision of complex, children's and specialist community equipment.
Additional work is now being undertaken to investigate the current provision of communication aids throughout Wales.
Communication aids are tools for everyday living. Some are low-tech, such as communication books and symbol boards. Others are high-tech electronic devices. These are often called `Talkers’, `Voice Output Communication Aids’ (VOCA for short) or Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices. All of these enable people who have no speech, limited speech or impaired speech to communicate their wishes and thoughts to others. In this survey we will call all devices (both high-tech and low-tech) `communication aids’.
A number of surveys concerning all aspects of the provision of communication aids have been devised in order to gain the views of all those involved and we would particularly welcome responses from service users and their families and voluntary sector organisations.
Voluntary and Third Sector Organisations were asked to complete and return a survey questionnaire by Friday 3 December 2010.
Service Managers, Education Departments and practitioners throughout Wales are in the process of being separately surveyed. WAG is also seeking the views of communication aid users and their families, and would also be very interested in short case studies highlighting any problems with the provision of communication aids and/or the difference that a communication aid can make to an individual. For further information on the surveys please contact Mary Morris on 01792 326564 or mary.morris2@wales.nhs.uk