Between January-March 2023, Cerebral Palsy Scotland ran a survey in order to get an insight into what services were being used by the cerebral palsy community, how easy these services were to access, the issues that mattered to them, and challenges they were currently facing.
We also asked for feedback on our own services too. Our overall aim was to use all of this feedback to shape our own services now and in the future, and to make them as useful as possible to the cerebral palsy community.
Some of the key survey insights are below. You can read the full survey summary here.
Adults with cerebral palsy are struggling to access therapy and other services
- Of the 134 people who responded to the survey, 120 were adults
- Adults with cerebral palsy reported they are struggling to access therapy – 43% said they were not accessing therapy for their cerebral palsy
- Adults are also struggling to access other relevant services. Outwith Cerebral Palsy Scotland, 74% could not access psychological support elsewhere and 69% could not access social events elsewhere.
People want Cerebral Palsy Scotland to offer a range of services, and see therapy as our most useful service
Of those surveyed, 54% felt therapy was our most useful service. A majority of respondents said it was ‘extremely important’ that Cerebral Palsy Scotland offer:
- Individual therapy (73%)
- Psychological support (63%)
- Information about cerebral palsy (68%)
- Awareness raising about cerebral palsy (78%)
- Signposting to other services (63%)
- Campaigning on behalf of people with cerebral palsy (73%)
Lack of health and care services and support is a key issue for the cerebral palsy community
When asked, ‘What would be the most important issue for Cerebral Palsy Scotland to campaign and/or raise awareness on?’, 44% said they wanted Cerebral Palsy Scotland to campaign for more health care support and services for people with cerebral palsy.
Just over half (53%) of all respondents felt that a lack of support and services, including a lack of funding within the NHS, was the most important issue they will face in 2023.