Oxford Health Charity has lent its support to the Oxford City Learning Disabilities Team enabling patients to trial specialist equipment that will help with daily tasks.

With many service users experiencing autism, sensory processing difficulties and physical needs, daily activities such as washing, dressing, cooking, eating/drinking and personal care can prove difficult.

Charity funds have enabled the team to purchase a wide variety of aids for patients to trial, to determine if they may benefit from them, before they make any purchases Everyday tasks such as being able to use taps, turning a key, opening a jar, putting on a pair of socks could potentially be made easier through simple pieces of equipment.

Bethan Ward, Senior Occupation Therapist explained “Previously we had very limited equipment to show our service users, and assess the suitability of them, making it very difficult and risky to make recommendations. Service users are required to purchase themselves, which can be expensive, especially if they are not suitable for their needs.”

“We are over the moon to have Oxford Health Charity’s support to enable us to purchase the equipment we need to trial in people’s homes. This will make a huge difference to our service users with learning disabilities in and around Oxford.”

Oxford Health Charity have also provided funding to the team for sensory equipment, helping patients to regulate their emotions, self-soothe, and engage with the world a little easier.

If you’d like to help our Learning Disabilities services with other initiatives such as these, please do get in touch [email protected]