Earlier this year we conducted our first County Wide survey to ensure that we are reaching all of those that are in need of our services and support. The survey was therefore developed to enable us to understand more about the main issues facing adults in Norfolk living with visual impairment. This understanding will support the development of our services and activities and hopefully increase engagement.
From the survey we gained 95 responses from both people who were unaware of Vision Norfolk and those that knew of us and have used our services. The survey has been really successful in providing a large range of evidence to assist our future development and potential funding applications.
Findings included the following:
Most awareness of Vision Norfolk was through ‘word of mouth’, the Sensory Support Unit, or our Eye Clinic Liaison Officers in the Hospitals, however, it is clear we need to improve promotion to West Norfolk and Breckland, working age groups and ethnic minority communities.
We were very pleased that there were high ratings of usefulness across all our services, (65 to 70% found them useful or very useful), with 13% confirming our community hubs were essential. Additionally, it was very positive that the majority of people found our activities fun and friendly (58-72%) and gave many suggestions of new possible activities. Whilst most respondents were aware of the sports and social activities, only 44% had knowledge of the Telefriends service.
Access was a main issue faced by respondents, particularly the lack of public transport and costs being barriers. Also, as activities were held mostly during the day, they were not accessible to those of working age.
Phone and online access to services during the pandemic was very well received, with a high preference for this to continue into the future, although there is a significant demand for face to face in the community hubs or local community venues, as the pandemic recedes.
There was a high level of interest in making much more information available via social media and links, such as equipment and technology, community activities and community support. With regard to technology there was a real positive response to learning more and having more information and advice.
If you are interested in finding out more about the survey findings, you can read the full report here.
Since the closure of the survey, our Vision Norfolk user group has been formed, led by Ed Bates, our Special Projects Coordinator. The User Group are planning to look at the results of the survey in greater depth and provide recommendations as we go forward. If anyone is interested in becoming part of this user group please do get in touch with Edward Bates on [email protected].
Thank you to all of those that completed the survey, we really appreciate the time you gave to us.
