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Welcome to this week's Independent Living news.
08.08.18 Contents:
Accessible loo; café attached!
Surprising benefits of gaming
What is mesothelioma?
New page for Astor Bannerman
Decline in sickness absence
Latest - Enforcing the Equality Act
1. Accessible loo; café attached!

Many people dream about opening a little café in a picturesque location – it isn't often that the dream is providing a fully accessible toilet, and the café comes along afterwards as a way of financing it.

But this is the story behind The Honey Pot in Cromer, where AllCare Community Support (ACS) engaged Closomat to help tackle the lack of Changing Places assisted, accessible toilets in the region, and opened a café in the process...

Read the story here

 

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2. Surprising benefits of gaming

If your image of a “typical” gamer is of an adolescent boy holed up in his bedroom, alarmingly short on social skills, and only interacting with other people through the medium of epic game marathons played over the internet, you are rather out of touch with the reality.

And probably in for a pleasant surprise, when you consider the surprising number of health benefits of gaming that are gradually being revealed.

More details here

 

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3. What is mesothelioma?

Asbestos may be a material from the past – a past going right back to ancient Greece – but it is still making its presence felt today, unfortunately.

The rare group of cancers, mesothelioma, affect the lining of the lungs, abdomen, or heart. Caused by exposure to asbestos, the cancer takes a long time to manifest itself, but is then particularly aggressive.

We have an interesting article about mesothelioma, which you can read here

 

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4. New page for Astor Bannerman

Astor Bannerman, a long time site subscriber on Independent Living, has a completely new showcase page, highlighting some of their latest products.

The Avero bath, shown here, is one. A freestanding height adjustable bath, with an elegant and contemporary appearance, it has been cleverly sculptured to give maximum internal space with minimum external length. This means it can be used for bathers weighing up to 300 kg, over 47 stone.

Their next-generation CTX shower and changing table is another standout product on the page, providing specialist support for high dependency users.

Visit the Astor Bannerman page here

  

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5. Decline in sickness absence

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that sickness absence rates are at an all-time low.

Since records began in 1993, the number of days taken off sick by British workers has almost halved.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Are we getting healthier, or more concerned about the consequences of taking time off?

More details here

 

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6. Latest - Enforcing the Equality Act

The Women and Equalities Committee has already made recommendations on how to improve enforcement of the Equality Act 2010. It now wants to know what more needs to be done, and whether the Equalities and Human Rights Commission should have a stronger role.

One glaring shortcoming of the legislation – which was pointed out to the original inquiry – is the way that disabled people who have suffered discrimination have to take legal action themselves to achieve redress.

The Committee is looking for written submissions from interested parties.

More here, including how to contribute

 

Don't forget that you can apply to join the Independent Living Facebook group, if you would like to spend more time discussing these themes with other interested people. 

There are various ways you can get in touch with us: email me; visit our Facebook page and leave a message there; or if it's short and sweet, Tweet!

Previous newsletters are archived here.

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Until next time, all good wishes,

Frances

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Frances Leckie
Editor

e: editor @ independentliving.co.uk
t: +44 (0) 208 133 0628
Skype: francesleckie
w: www.independentliving.co.uk
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