Equipment and Adaptations
Equipment and adaptations are an important part of an integrated community care service. They can enable some of our most vulnerable citizens to achieve their individual outcomes, helping them to live in their own homes for as long as possible, as independently as possible.
The provision of appropriate equipment and adaptations have also been shown to be a cost effective model of intervention. A paper exploring the effectiveness and value of providing equipment and adaptations was published on the Scottish Government's website. The paper highlights, through case studies, the savings that can be achieved by Health and Social Care Partnerships through the effective use of equipment and adaptations in place of other care services such as care homes and home carers. The paper is available for download on the Scottish Government site.
A range of examples of good practice in the provision of equipment and adaptations is also available.
Further examples of good practice can be sent by submitting this template to equipmentandadaptations@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.
Guidance
The Scottish Government published new guidance on the provision of equipment and adaptations in December 2009. The new guidance aims to assist local authorities and their NHS partners to modernise and integrate their equipment and adaptations services within the wider community care context.
Alongside the guidance the Scottish Government is developing a number of toolkits and guides to assist partnerships in their service reviews, and provision of equipment and adaptations. Practical support is also being offered through the JIT.
Further information is available on the Scottish Government's website.
Publications
Current E&A publications can be accessed in the publications section of our website. Future publications are listed below.
Good Practice Guide for the Provision of Major Adaptations
A scoping exercise was carried out across the 32 local authorities in Scotland to identify current innovative models and good practice in the provision of housing adaptations, together with areas for improvement.
The results of this exercise are now being used to develop a good practice guide for major adaptations. Following a short consultation the guide will be published in December.
Local authority guide to providing information on equipment and adaptations
The Scottish Government is committed to providing advice on producing suitable information on accessing equipment and adaptations. Following initial research the Scottish Government is developing a guide based on a framework developed by Ricability in England (available here).
The guide will be published in December, following a short public consultation.
