Background to the Inclusive Communication
in Scotland Project
The project was set up to help public bodies to change their communication behaviour. Here you can read more about how the project came into being.
Previously the Communication Forum Scotland worked with people with communication support needs through the Civic Participation Network (C P N) to:
- Find out how they could be included as citizens
- Learn what barriers they face
- Make a set of principles
- Create a ‘Talk for Scotland’ toolkit
- Set up a website and database to share this learning
- Write training materials
Communication Forum Scotland contributed to the Scottish Government working group on Inclusive Communication to develop the ‘Principles of Inclusive Communication’ – supporting the Independent Living Programme
As a result, these Principles now have a set of 10 performance indicators within the Public Service Improvement Framework (PSIF). These indicators are what Local Authorities will use in their self-assessment processes and could also use in their Equality Impact Assessments.
You can read more about the 10 performance indicators within Public Service Improvement Framework
Principles of Inclusive Communication exist
Good practice in supporting communication exists
Legislation exists
But……
Discrimination persists!
The Project’s role is to help public bodies to change their communication behaviour…….
To help with this work Communication Forum Scotland are working with Improvement Service.
Improvement Service (IS) was set up by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Scottish Government to provide support to those working in Local Government. It is the role of IS to encourage and provide tools to Local Authorities for them to meet the indicators for Inclusive Communication within PSIF.
Having IS ‘on side’ means we have a much better chance of the principles being adopted and embedded into strategy, policy and practice.
On our website you can find out more about the work of the project, the resources and tools you can use, and the opportunities to participate in the programme of events.
In the meantime you may be wondering why inclusive communication is important so we’d ask you to think about this:
Why does inclusive communication matter?
In a room of 100 people in your community –
- At any one time 25 will have mental health difficulties that compromise their understanding
- 20 will have a degree of hearing impairment
- 45 will need glasses and ? will have forgotten to bring them!
- 4 will have dyslexia
- 1 will have an underlying health condition affecting their memory and cognitive reasoning e.g. Dementia, Parkinson’s
- 2 will have had a stroke that has left them with language processing and speech impairments
- 2 will have a learning disability such as Down’s syndrome
- 25 will have below functional literacy affecting the ability to make sense of written information
- 25 will have economic barriers to receiving information e.g. no internet access
- 1 will have had a life event that morning that has disorientated them
- 20 will lack the education needed to make sense of complex language
- 8 will have English as an additional language!