Involving disabled people
Involving disabled people
Reasons why government departments must involve disabled people
Why involve disabled people?
There are over ten million disabled people in the UK. Around one in 20 children, one in seven working age adults and almost one in two people over state-pension age are disabled, so any policy is likely to affect disabled people in some way.
Disabled people are the experts in their own lives and their views are an essential part of any evidence base. Involving them in your project will help identify gaps in knowledge and give an indication of whether it will work in the short and long term. As well as the compelling business reasons for considering disability in your work, there are also legal considerations.
Understanding the perspective, needs and priorities of disabled people will develop better policy and deliver successful public services.
What the law says about involving disabled people
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) says that public bodies must ensure that disabled people are treated fairly. This can be done by working with disabled people when designing policies, services or communications.
Further reading
Resources
- Involving disabled people: an introduction (PDF, 28 pages, 1.6 MB)
Explore
- About the Public Sector Equality Duty
- The social model of disability
- Inclusive communications
- Inclusive policymaking
Page last reviewed: 30 March 2011
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