Better Days is a research and engagement exercise to better understand how to redevelop our day opportunities model.
A significant number of people in our county, for a number of reasons including illness or disability, need some support to plan their days or access activities and interests that matter to them. We call this support to access day opportunities.
Our aim is to inform the development of a day opportunity model that offers choice, variety and personalization for the people who use them. We want to find out from our audience how we could create a shared vision of day opportunities in Dorset.
We have been working on a model to increase the range and diversity of what people can be supported to do, which includes but goes beyond traditional day services.
We think of day opportunities as any activity which helps an individual meet their outcomes, develop new skills, maintain or increase their independence or support their care needs. We know that this is different for everyone and that people want opportunities that are right for them.
For us, day opportunities can be a life skills training, support to find a job, time at a day centre, a sporting activity, clubs and social activities and less formal activities such as time with friends, nature walks or visits to the local town centre. We want to enable people to have a well-supported and varied day, to enable people to try new things and to create an offer that moves beyond the 9 to 5 weekday.
We conducted the first stage of our research in the summer of 2021 and your views influenced the development of our A Better Life 2023 to 2028 strategies.
The research in 2021 was completed during the coronavirus lockdown and we want to revisit this and understand how things have changed in the two years since. We want to revisit the research by also asking a wider group of people and dig deeper into some subject areas where we feel that we need more information.
The Better Days Survey is now closed
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to tell us what they think about day opportunities in Dorset. We've had a lot of completed surveys returned and we're now analysing all of the responses.
We will share what we have learned as soon as possible in 2024.