Skip over main navigation
  • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
Changing Our Lives
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Contact us Donate
Menu
  • About us
    • Who we are
      • Our vision and values
      • Our brand
      • Our team
        • Staff
        • Associates
        • Trustees
    • What we do
      • How we work
      • Annual report
    • Our history
  • Our work
    • Areas of our work
      • Young people
      • Learning disability and autism
      • Mental health
      • Health inequalities
      • The arts
      • Research
      • Safe places
    • Where we work
    • Testimonials
    • Best practice
  • Our stories
    • Ordinary life stories
    • Hospital to Home
  • Our blog
  • Training and development
  • Admin
    • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
  • How we work

How we work

We work with disabled people and people with lived experience of mental health difficulties of all ages. Whilst all of the individuals we work with experience multiple disadvantages and discrimination, some of our projects specifically target the following groups with the following labels:

  • People with the label of profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD)
  • People from minority ethnic communities
  • People who find themselves stripped of the most basic human rights (for example, hospital inpatients)

Whether we work with disabled people, people with lived experience of mental health difficulties or professionals, we don’t have one standard approach or set of tools. We look at the issue and work out which tools and approaches best suit the situation.

The model is NEVER more important than the outcomes

We generally use the following approaches but in a flexible way to suit each differing issue and/or group of people: 

  • Community development
  • Person centred planning
  • Community connecting
  • Recording stories to show the art of the possible
  • Rights based advocacy
  • Quality of Life reviews
  • Practice development
  • Strategic coproduction
  • Exploring individual commissioning options

Social Model of Disability

Recovery Model

Our approach rests firmly on the social model of disability where we believe that a person is disabled by society and the way it is organised. Much of society is built on the medical model, which believes that the person is disabled by their condition and is a problem to be fixed.

We don’t believe people’s lives should be limited or defined by labels and diagnoses. We are dedicated to reframing how society views mental health and disability.

We are committed to the recovery model. Just as we all have physical health, so we have mental health. This model does not focus on symptoms and conditions, but champions:

  • Building resilience of people
  • Supporting self-development and self-esteem
  • A strength-based approach
  • A personalised approach and aims for each individual to gain more control over their life
  • Social recovery, where relationships and community connections are strengthened
  • A journey, not a destination
  • Building a meaningful life, as defined by the person themselves

Published: 11th May, 2020

Updated: 4th November, 2021

Author: Rosalind Frampton

Share this page
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Latest

  • One Small Change

    One Small Change

  • Barbershop Stories

    Barbershop Stories

    Interested in changing the narrative?

  • Birmingham Stories

    Birmingham Stories

    This collection of stories describes three people’s unique journey from hospital to home.

  • Hospitals are not homes

    Hospitals are not homes

    Professor Rosie Harding - Trustee

Most read

  • Our vision and values

    Our vision and values

    Changing Our Lives is a rights-based organisation. We work alongside disabled people and people experiencing mental health difficulties, of all ages, as equal partners to find solutions to social injustice and health inequalities.

  • Beth's Story

    Beth's Story

    Beth is on the journey to independence in her own home

  • What is postural care?

    What is postural care?

  • David's Story

    David's Story

    Lockdown or no lockdown, with a direct payment and effective personalised care, David lives his life to the fullest.

  • Where we work

    Where we work

  • Safe places

    The Safe Places scheme is based on the belief that everyone has the right to feel confident and safe going out in their local community. Lots of people feel unsafe at times in the local area; this might be because they have experienced crime or because they simply feel unsafe. For disabled people, older people and others who feel vulnerable this often means they don’t go out at all. The Safe Places scheme enables people to feel more confident, access their local areas more and know what to do.

  • Jayne Leeson, MBE

    Chief Executive Officer

  • Our brand

    Our brand

  • Common Ground

    Common Ground

  • Katy's Story

    Katy's Story

    No one's too disabled, or too affected by mental health difficulties, to lead an ordinary life.



    • YouTube
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility
  • Login
  • Log out

Changing Our Lives is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales under number 4404093 and registered as a Charity number 1093883