Useful Network
"Dignity though choices"
Who we are:
Useful Network is designed along the social enterprise model. We will use 50% of our annual profits for projects chosen by the board that have a positive impact on the community and health. This could be health, social and art projects geared towards a larger impact in the community either on the local, national or international level. We are not aiming to be a third sector organization that is reliant on funding or grant subscription to survive, even though some of our first projects may rely on such funding to be started. Although most of our projects have a social impact they are being planned to be self supportive in funding and to create a profitable return to enable more projects to be overseen. Our vision is to create an organization that has a social motivation but also does not rely on social funding to enable that motivation. The board: The board is made up of persons coming from both a medical and social care background. They saw the need for an improvement in the therapy models used in current social care. What we do: The Usefulnetwork was set up to examine within a social enterprise business the tools that could be created to enable better inclusion of disabled/ vunerable people. We are a company that is looking at various projects to this aim. We are also looking within our model to support other projects to promote inclusion and a reachable level of independence for disabled people, that being either physically or mentally. Our primary goal and ethic is to improve choice not to impose decisions on disabled / vunerable people. Over time we aim to improve tools available for choices for people and improve integration through the use of our projects and the products we create.
Usefulnetwork Mission statement:
We the Usefulnetwork are working to develop tools and systems that will enable disabled persons. We endeavour to offer them greater choice and greater dignity. Our primary consideration as a company is to ensure customer dignity and discretion. To us as an organization there are the core values of dignity, choices and honour that our customers should expect to receive. We also aim to encourage equality in our organization no one shall ever feel discriminated against over gender, race, disability, religion and orientation. We aim to recruit our employees from our costumer base.
This is the mission statement dated from the 26/01/2010
About us:
Usefulnetwork was founded in 2010, by a group of friends who have worked in the healthcare environment and through mutual contacts came together to examine and work on solutions that were presented. We are mainly looking at the technological tools that are available to provide choices to both the customer and service provider of social care. It is important to us that even with the new technologies available in care the dignity and choices available to the customer are upheld at all stages possible. We also look to the care model and how through training and technology dignified care can be provided. We also try to provide integrated workplaces where the ratio is one able bodied employee to one disabled person. To this end we focus in our social projects to build an agency to assist in helping vulnerable people into a workplace environment. This should enable the joining up of a confused employer over disability integration to an employee who can fulfil the needs of the employer with long term support from the agency. In order to train work ability in vulnerable persons we will look to create a garden centre based project. This will enable vulnerable users to build on teamwork skills. We also are as an organization looking to create and support various projects as we grow to examine and to possibly create a more holistic therapeutic model for our customers.
Here a overview for our planed social projects.
Agency to promote work for vulnerable people
Will be set up for the following tasks: - Finding work for vulnerable people tailored to their individual needs and abilities - Setting up contracts with charities to enable reaching of NVQ for vulnerable people - Negotiating with Employers - Building workplaces with Employers together for vulnerable people - Setting up a long-term relation between Employers, vulnerable people and the Agency - Advice and support for both sides Employer and Vulnerable person - Finding voluntary work as training for vulnerable people not an emphasis on long-term placement - Gaining training toward work. We will work as an Agency to assist customers back into work this means the vulnerable people we connect to employers for the first 6 months are contracted to the organization. In this time the vulnerable person and the Employer can develop a working relationship. After a period of 6 months the vulnerable worker and the employer can decide to make their own contract or the organization can assist in further training and support. The levels of advice will sustained for a period of one year or more to a maximum of five years. The most of the vulnerable people will have been in long-term in institutionalised Care. Many of them needed after breakdowns long-term Care. To expect that they can be able to work after Care is not to fulfil. It is to expect, only to gain the level of concentration of the challenges of work can take up to six months. The body to enable to work is a slow process, which can be started slow with a half hour and increased over months/ in some cases a year to a stable workforce. In this time is stable support important , though motivation, confidence and consisting the vulnerable person learns step by step to come back to a feeling of joy in their work and the benefits of an meaningful life. On the other hand we can’t be expected that Employers handle this burden. So will the agency for work set up the
Gardening project / work training 1/ work therapeutic unit
The Gardening project will by growing genetically diverse rare sorts of vegetables, fruit, and herbs, to archive seeds and fruit for sale. This is an environment friendly project, as well to protect plants and rare forms of vegetation. For the heating of the greenhouses is planned only to use energy forms which renewable, where we have the ability to do so. The vulnerable person will learn different tasks on increasing levels to archive concentration and work environment background. This will happen with the help of Gardeners / Support workers in small groups. An NVQ Level can be possibly be achieved. Because of the variety of tasks this project allows the start on a minimum level of ability. Successful participants can become full members of staff, if they wish.
Sensory integration project
This project is three fold, in the past twenty years there has been a therapeutic model that has been developed that uses all of the available senses in therapy. The primary concentration on this therapy at present is aimed at working with attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity disorder. Sensory integration has also been proved to be beneficial to persons suffering from other dissociative disorders like autism.
ScienceDaily (Apr. 27, 2008) — Parents of children with autism are increasingly turning to sensory integration treatment to help their children deal with the disorder, and they're seeing good results. In 2007, 71 percent of parents who pursued alternatives to traditional treatment used sensory integration methods, and 91 percent found these methods helpful. A new study from Temple University researchers, presented this month at the American Occupational Therapy Association's 2008 conference, found that children with autistic spectrum disorders who underwent sensory integration therapy exhibited fewer autistic mannerisms compared to children who received standard treatments. Such mannerisms, including repetitive hand movements or actions, making noises, jumping or having highly restricted interests, often interfere with paying attention and learning. The children assigned to the sensory integration intervention group also reached more goals specified by their parents and therapists, said study authors Beth Pfeiffer, Ph.D., OTR/L, BCP, and Moya Kinnealey, Ph.D., OTR/L, from the Occupational Therapy Department in Temple University's College of Health Professions. The children made progress toward goals in the areas of sensory processing/regulation, social-emotional and functional motor tasks. Sensory integration is the ability of the brain to properly integrate and adapt to the onslaught of information coming in through the senses. Dysfunction in this area makes it difficult for people with autism to adapt to and function like others in their environment. They may be hypersensitive to sound or touch, or unable to screen out distracting noise or clothing textures. Their response might be impulsive motor acts, making noises or running away. To this aim this project is to look at creating toys and tools that can bring in forms of sensory integration into a therapeutic model and also look at exercises based on full body cross lateral movement. The project is to view therapy models and systems currently available and to look at the disorders that can be helped through sensory integration therapy.
To this end the project will be based at a therapy centre offering research and training on SI therapies. This could be based at the gardening project in separate buildings or a multi function building. Abuse therapy centre: Through the history of abuse therapies there is lacking in some parts a core work with the survivors of abuse. Presently the concentration of psychotherapy is on the feelings of victimization and separation. These are valid points to explore in the therapeutic model but it is concentrated solely on the survivor. There is the problem that in treatment for abuse trauma that there is no integration to approach the damages done to family networks and understanding and assistance. An abuser does just not affect those that are the subjects of the abuse but also other family members. A survivor of abuse can become isolated from those family members that can support them if the family members aren’t given the tools to enable them to assist the survivor. Commonly there is a great feeling of anger towards the survivor where that is mainly an inappropriate response to the trauma to the survivor. What this project aims to undertake is a more integrated approach to therapy and support of abuse trauma survivors and those affected by their abuse trauma. The main stumbling points of abuse trauma therapy in my opinion at present are the concentration on the survivor. It does separate them from a support network although unmeaning to do that. What the project aims to do is to bring a holistic approach to the therapies that are needed. Also part of the therapy model the project wishes to investigate is the creation in abuse survivors of an alternate persona, in previous research it has been shown that this is fairly common although not addressed in therapy. This may be something that may be addressed as a lot of survivors and also leads to a greater feeling of isolation that the therapy model will seek to address. Again the therapy centre can be located with other projects or be a standalone project.
