BBC research on acquired disability and poverty/financial hardship

[rcrozier]

Hi there,

My name is Raymona Crozier and I'm a researcher with BBC Three. We are directing an hour long documentary scheduled to broadcast in July and will be presented by Peter Mitchell, an actor and wheelchair basketball player, who himself uses a wheelchair after a spinal cord injury ten years ago.

We have been following a number of people who have experienced life-changing illnesses or injuries through the recovery process, and back into everyday life, charting the highs and lows, and giving them a platform to speak about their experiences. BBC-3 tends to focus on contributors in the same age range as the intended audience, which usually means people from late teens to thirty-ish. We're hoping to be honest about what's difficult but also reflect some of the unexpected positives, and give as full a picture as possible of what it's like to become disabled. Of course, we know there is no universal truth, and everyone has a unique experience.

We are hoping to speak with people who have acquired their disability and are experiencing financial problems and finding themselves living below the poverty line. I realise that this is something not often experienced by newly disabled people and is often difficult to talk about. We would hope to have an initial chat over the phone with individuals to hear a little more about their circumstances. We feel that the area of disability and financial hardship is important to portray within our programme and reveal the difficulties to an audience who may not be aware of the problems.

Apologies for the long post, but I wanted to provide as much information as possible.

If you are interested in chatting with me, my email is raymona.crozier@bbc.co.uk.

Many thanks for your time,
Raymona

[reddivine]

Try the MS society or shift.ms
also the NKF facebook page.
Two life changing conditions and FYI there is no "recovery" from a lot of disabilities. you have to learn to live differently with it

[babyblu64]

I agree with redvine, for a lot of us, there is no recovery. Our illnesses just get progressively worse.

A lot of us have not become disabled through injury. My problems started in my teens and have progressed all through my life. I managed to work part-time until my early 40s, but then had to take medical retirement. After years of surgeries, "treatments" pills and potions, I have now, for all intents and purposes, been "written off" by the medical establishment.

I am sure there are lots of stories, lots of different experiences.

[rich-ward]

A programme about people who have been disabled all their lives, I think would be extremely interesting.

As someone who was born disabled, and have friends who were also born disabled - I've seen how different our experiences have been to those who become disabled through illness or accidents etc.

A note to raymona - it is not just those disabled through life-changing illnesses who experience poverty, financial hardship and other problems. Lots of disabled people (from birth) also have these problems.

And yes, for disabled people there is no recovery, there is just adaptation and managing.

I'm lucky, my disability will not finish me off. However, lots of my disabled school friends have died because of their disabilities - most in their teens. That's a reality that they, their friends and families have to deal with.

[TheFlyingKidney]

A programme about people who have been disabled all their lives, I think would be extremely interesting.

As someone who was born disabled, and have friends who were also born disabled - I've seen how different our experiences have been to those who become disabled through illness or accidents etc.

A note to raymona - it is not just those disabled through life-changing illnesses who experience poverty, financial hardship and other problems. Lots of disabled people (from birth) also have these problems.

And yes, for disabled people there is no recovery, there is just adaptation and managing.

I'm lucky, my disability will not finish me off. However, lots of my disabled school friends have died because of their disabilities - most in their teens. That's a reality that they, their friends and families have to deal with.

I would suggest contacting the National Kidney Federation, many many recently 'acquired disability' of teens to 30's age groups that have been thrown in with sudden Chronic Kidney Failure (or CKD) and have found little help in the mainstream support groups and environment, with little public awareness or understanding.



CKD is one of the least talked about disabilities in the media, (by comparison to cancer, heart disease, or obesity or diabetes, and yet affects 1 in 10 people in the UK). CKD may not be as media fashionable as some diseases, but its there, and needs disussion

Cuts in finance and benefits are hitting Kidney Patients hard. So consider this when going about your research.

JW, lifelong suffer of CKD..

[AmyS]

I participated in a BBC documentary some years ago, they asked in the 'Health Unlocked' forum. https://healthunlocked.com/ there are a number of different categories within it.