Skip to main content

The Latest Bulletin

The toy industry shuts out children with disabilities. We want to change that

The toy industry shuts out children with disabilities. We want to change that

Since my last child was born five years ago something else has bred in my house. Toys. We started off with a few rattles, and as the years progressed the plastic proliferated into an army of Playmobil figures, a soup of Lego, a sea of cutesy Sylvanian rabbits. But four weeks ago I stood back and looked at our toy box in a new light. A penny dropped. Not one plastic figure had a wheelchair, or a hearing aid, a white cane or any kind of disability at all. There are 770,000 children in the UK with disabilities and more than 150 million worldwide. Yet these children arrive into a world where, even before they have left their mother’s lap,…
Dr Neil Thompson
June 4, 2015
Access to resources on stress and more

Access to resources on stress and more

Occupational stress poses a risk to most businesses and compensation payments for stress are increasing. Employers need to meet the challenge by dealing with excessive and long-term causes of stress. It is well recognised that excessive or sustained work pressure can lead to stress. The HSE's formal definition of work related stress is: ‘The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work.’ People become stressed when they feel they don’t have the resources they need (whether material, financial or emotional) to cope with these demands.If people feel under too much stress and for too long, mental and physical illness may develop. ‘Stress can affect people mentally in the form of anxiety and…
Dr Neil Thompson
June 4, 2015
The Queen’s speech must not treat social care as the poor cousin of the NHS

The Queen’s speech must not treat social care as the poor cousin of the NHS

Adult social care has become the poor cousin of the NHS. Those of us in the sector may not feel comfortable with this assessment, but few would disagree with it. While the NHS was the key issue in the general election campaigns, social care was pushed into the background. And while the health budget was ringfenced throughout the last parliament, social care funding fell by more than a third in some places. Click on the link below to read more. https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/may/26/queens-speech-social-care-poor-cousin-nhs
Dr Neil Thompson
June 4, 2015
Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – To thine own self be true

Neil Thompson’s Lesson for Living – To thine own self be true

The idea that we should be true to ourselves has a long and honourable history, and also has much to commend it. However, much depends on how it is interpreted. A very common interpretation is that it involves being clear what your ‘true’ self is and then acting in accordance with that. This entails digging deep into yourself to find out what your ‘true’ or real self is. This is highly problematic, as it is based on an oversimplified understanding of what it means to have a ‘self’. The technical term for this is ‘essentialism’, because it is based on the false idea that everyone has a fixed ‘essence’, an unchanging underlying personality or identity. This is what is seen…
Dr Neil Thompson
May 21, 2015
What is Mindfulness?

What is Mindfulness?

You’ve probably heard a lot about Mindfulness in the media recently. Perhaps you think it means sitting cross-legged on the floor and meditating. Maybe you think mindfulness means to simply concentrate on your breathing. You may have even heard that mindfulness means to focus on your bodily sensations? Well mindfulness is all of those things, and so much more. To shed some light on what mindfulness is, how it can be used and why it’s so beneficial we have decided to focus on the theme of mindfulness for Mental Health Awareness Week 2015. Click on the link below to read more. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/mentalhealthawarenessweek/what-is-mindfulness/
Dr Neil Thompson
May 21, 2015
Challenging gender stereotyping in the armed forces – Mixed responses

Challenging gender stereotyping in the armed forces – Mixed responses

At first glance, it seems 2015 may be the year the British Armed Forces is truly embracing diversity and promoting gender equality. Last month, Staff Sergeant Kate Lord received the prestigious Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service, for challenging the opinions of young men in the Afghan National Army, who accused her of "being weak". And in January, the army's first transgender officer Hannah Winterbourne was praised for speaking openly about realising her "body was wrong" while she was serving in Afghanistan. But despite these moves in the right direction, women are still seriously outnumbered by men in the armed forces. Click on the link below to read more. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/03/27/women-britsh-armed-forces-sexism_n_6940538.html
Dr Neil Thompson
May 21, 2015
‘Stop punishing the poor’: What social care wants from the government

‘Stop punishing the poor’: What social care wants from the government

British Association of Social Workers – Guy Shennan, chair: “We want to see a return to a commitment to social justice. Social workers have had to deal with the fallout of the austerity agenda. It’s time for government to play fair and stop punishing the poor for the economic failures of the rich. “Blame has been heaped on the most disadvantaged and vulnerable members of society over the past five years. These are the people social workers work with, and for, and it is time that their voice was heard.” Click on the link below to read more. https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/may/08/social-care-poor-wants-from-government-election
Dr Neil Thompson
May 21, 2015
Seth Godin’s blog: Are you certain that you’re trapped?

Seth Godin’s blog: Are you certain that you’re trapped?

To be actually trapped is to have no options, no choices, no possible outcomes other than the one you fear. Most of the time, when we think we're trapped, we're actually unhappy with the short-term consequences of making a choice. Make the choice, own the outcome and you can start in a new place. This is often frightening and painful, which is one reason it might be easier to pretend that we're actually trapped. Click on the link below to read more of Seth Godin's blog entries. https://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/  
Dr Neil Thompson
May 21, 2015