Transcript of Greenwood Independent Living Centre video

Greenwood Independent Living Centre

Hello there, my name's Jemma Stokes. I'm the Principal Occupational Therapist at Dorset Council, and today I'd like to introduce you to our commissioned independent living centre, the Greenwood Centre here in Dorchester.

An independent living centre is somewhere you can come and get independent and impartial advice on any issues you may be having living independently at home, and can help you find solutions to manage some difficulties you might be having.

If you want to come inside, I'll introduce you to Alison Walker, the Occupational Therapist that runs the centre. She can show you a bit more about what's inside and what to expect if you come to visit.

Hello and welcome to Greenwood Independent Living Centre. My name is Alison Walker and I'm an Occupational Therapist based at the centre. The centre is designed to provide a service for people who pay their council tax to Dorset Council and are aged 18 and above.

We have a wide range of equipment, but we do not sell it. So there is no sales pitch when you come through the door to look at the equipment we have to demonstrate.

Our first room is the adaptive bathroom. As you can see, we have a standard bath into which we can put different pieces of adaptive equipment for you to see and try. So, for example, we have a bath lift here so people can come into the room and they can actually physically use the bath lift to get in and out of the bath. To see whether having such a piece of equipment would enable them to remain safe and independent in their personal hygiene in their own home.

This is an example of a level access shower with carer screens, which enables the carer to lean over the top and give the person assistance without getting wet. There may be assistance with installation of a level access shower through a disabled facilities ground. Alternatively, if you are looking to install a level access shower privately, you are more than welcome to come and look and have a discussion about the different features to consider when having one installed.

This is our chair room where we have a variety of riser recliner and high back chairs. You are welcome to come and see and try and we will measure you and give you advice about good seating posture and where you can buy the chairs at reasonable prices.

For people who are struggling to walk longer distances, we can give advice about wheelchairs, about scooters and about devices that can be added to wheelchairs to make it easier for you the carer to push the wheelchair. We will go outside, use the pavement, use the garden to allow you to really experience what these gadgets and pieces of equipment can do for you.

As Greenwood is a bungalow, we only have a very short stair lift. However, it still provides the visitor with opportunities to try transferring on and off, managing the footplate and the controls and equally rotating the seat when they get to the top of the stairs.

We have a large range of walking aids and kitchen trolleys, so hopefully we can meet everyone's needs, be they petite or grand, be they wanting a lightweight walking aid or an all-terrain. We have many different styles for you to come and see and trial both indoors and outdoors.

So this is our bedroom where we have a variety of equipment for people to come and see and try, ranging from dressing aids, moving handling equipment to specialist beds. You the visitor can come in, try the bed, the profile action, the height adjustment and we can give you advice about where you can buy these sorts of beds at reasonable prices with good follow-up service and delivery.

I hope you have found the video informative. If you would like to come and visit the Greenwood Centre, please do ring on the number that is shown below. We look forward to welcoming you here.