The Board of Directors has agreed to focus on a number of strategic priorities, all of which result from ongoing monitoring and analysis of the internal and external environment. The age and profile of blind and partially sighted people and their needs continue to change and together with continuing developments in technology and medical science, require the Society to continually revisit its objectives.
Currently the 4 key priority objectives are:
Locality
Social Isolation
User IT
Rehabilitation
Locality – Traditionally the Society has endeavoured to provide a uniform service across Fife. A detailed local analysis carried out with support from Fife Council identified priority localities in each of our three service areas: East, Central and West. The identified areas – Taybridgehead, East Kirkcaldy and Lochgelly have either a very high incidence of serious site loss, limited participation in existing provision due to geography or are considered areas of multiple deprivation. It is proposed to produce an action plan based on improved local partnerships and initiatives.
Social Isolation – Analysis confirms that a majority of clients are over the age of 65, they live alone and survive on very low levels of income. As a result most lose their social contacts and do not leave the home unless with support from others. Traditionally our provision has been based on our volunteer activity, it is now proposed to improve linkage to the work of the Insight team. It is planned to focus on understanding the factors that contribute to social isolation and how we might address these through professional and volunteer input. Central to this will be providing individuals with the tools to facilitate retention of or regaining social interaction. This means a concentration on mainstreaming of social provision where this is possible.
User IT – Access to computers, to email and to the Internet has the potential to remove some of the traditional barriers to communication that is based on having good vision. There is a need for support in all areas of access to computing and new technologies. Support includes classes in keyboarding and computing, IT assessments and equipment set up and support. Planning is looking at how to develop and expand support provision whilst ensuring that this is fully sustainable.
Rehabilitation – As the age and needs of clients change, we are reviewing traditional models of rehabilitation that have tended to focus on the needs of younger people, and those with little or no residual vision. People need to get around safely but using residual sight and bearing in mind other issues that can result from older age. Partially sighted people can be helped to read by making maximum use of residual sight. We will be looking at how rehabilitation training opportunities can be increased by using the Centre’s status as a ‘Branded Learning Centre’ with Learn Direct Scotland.