Disability voices: understanding the lives of disabled people in Cumbria

Context: Between January and March 2023, Healthwatch Cumbria conducted the Disability Voices: Understanding the lives of disabled people in Cumbria project. The project aimed to capture the voices of disabled people across Cumbria in order to understand their experiences of everyday life, the barriers they encounter, their frustrations or worries, and what changes they feel are needed to improve their lives. In April 2023, Health and Society Knowledge Exchange (HASKE), at the University of Cumbria, was commissioned by Healthwatch Cumbria to undertake an analysis of the data collected for the Disability Voices project. Methodology: The Disability Voices project engaged 758 people across Cumbria, which included disabled people, their carers, and professionals working with disabled people. The data was collected through: • 54 focus groups and 202 case study interviews, which recruited a total of 596 participants. • An online survey, which had 155 responses. • Social media posts about the project, which resulted in seven people providing comments about their experiences via Facebook. Conclusions: • The findings of the Disability Voices project were analysed and presented in three separate sections: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness, and Cumbria-wide. The findings across all three datasets reported similar themes and experiences, which have provided a detailed insight into the lives of disabled people, their carers, and people working with disabled people in Cumbria. • The Disability Voices project captured many diverse accounts of ‘normal life’ for disabled people, and their carers, along with many shared experiences. For example, many disabled people described how their various impairments or health conditions can ‘hold them back’ - to some extent - when going about their daily lives. • Another commonality across the data was the barriers that disabled people encounter within society, which can restrict their access to health and social care services, education, employment, social activities, and impact on their ...