Kara service - Barbara's case study
Barbara is a support worker for people with learning disabilities in Canterbury and works across two day service hubs in Northgate and Thannington where she ran a number of activities.
Before COVID-19 the hubs were incredibly busy, however during the lockdown it meant people couldn't meet face-to-face and Barbara and her colleagues were worried about being able to support their community.
She explains that the Kara service has become a real life-line for them:
"Before we had the Kara devices, the only option we have had was to make phone calls and that’s not ideal.
It really makes a difference to be able to see people, understand them better and that they can use it independently. The sound clarity is amazing and picture is so clear, it makes it much more intimate.”
Barbara
With so much happening online at the moment, Barbara says that Kara has also helped them to explore different ways to deliver services for their users, from cooking and art lessons to exercising and social meets.
One of her users, Andrew lives with his mum and dog and loves to learn new things and the device has been really good for him.
"For Andrew, not only do we run activities, but it is helpful for safety as much as anything else. If something happened to his mum, he’d be able to call for help.”
Barbara