Quality of life approach

Quality of Life

Changing Our Lives is committed to disabled people and people with lived experience of mental health difficulties leading ‘ordinary lives’. We know from experience that when an individual has tailored support, the right home environment and good healthcare, they are able to be active and valued citizens in the community and have a good quality of life. Changing Our Lives defines Quality of Life as ‘the degree to which a person lives and enjoys an ordinary life, living in their own home, making their own choices about everyday life, having responsibilities, being part of their community, having friendships and relationships, having the opportunity of employment and other opportunities for personal development’.

Since 2002, when the organisation was founded, we have been working in coproduction with disabled people to develop their own Quality of Life standards. These are used to measure how services and supports unlock a life and an individual's potential.

The Quality of Life standards have been used in a range of ways:

embedded into commissioning processes to inspire and stimulate recovery-focused and person-centred approaches
used in practice development with professionals to challenge assumptions, shape thinking and stimulate cultural change in working practices
used in Quality of Life reviews to measure how services enable ordinary life outcomes for the people they support

Quality of Life Standards

In 2018 the Mental Health People’s Parliament developed their own set of standards based on the recovery model.

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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.
National postural care strategy

We all need to look after our posture. For some of us it's as simple as sitting up correctly at our computer. But for those of us who struggle to move our own bodies, for example if we have a complex disability, looking after our posture is even more important. If we don’t look after our posture, this can lead to debilitating health complications.
Mental Health People's Parliament

The People’s Parliament is a strategic body led by MPs with recent lived experience of mental health difficulties. Its function is to hold decision makers to account for improvements in services and supports so that people who experience mental health difficulties can have an improved quality of life and be in greater control of their own mental wellbeing. The Parliament is located in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, just outside Birmingham.
Where we work
Our brand
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.
Beth's Story

How Beth broke the mould around post-16 options by designing her own future.
Best practice
Katy's Story

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

Our specialised team combines extensive experience, highly skilled and tenacious, professionals that are known for an innovative and outcomes based approach to practice and delivery.