Website of the Department of Health

(i) Working Life Service, (ii) Vocational Service & (iii) Capacity to Engage Neurosupport, Liverpool

The Working Life Service works with people affected by neurological conditions. It offers advice, guidance and counselling around future directions including work and meaningful alternatives to work. It offers assistance in removing certain barriers to progress (such as finance, legal, low self-confidence), acts as a signpost to other services and aims to improve access mainstream services. The service has experience of working with people with cognitive impairments and developing strategies to overcome the barriers faced by many people. Recently a Lifestyles programme has been developed offering a one-stop holistic service to people affected by neurological conditions including confidence building activities, basic skills training, work based behaviour, healthy eating etc.

The Vocational Service works closely with the Working Life Service but focuses exclusively on vocational outcomes – jobs, retention, vocational training and voluntary work. Both services work with employers and other service providers to enable them to successfully employ and retain neurologically and cognitively impaired workers. Training for employers and other agencies has been developed around cognitive impairments and head injury awareness, and the service is willing to share this.

Capacity to Engage is a lottery funded project run jointly with Merseyside Disability Federation to work with voluntary health and social care organisations to help them make their services accessible to people from black and racial minorities. The project also works with minority communities to recruit, train and place volunteers in voluntary health and care organisations.