Pelican and Respond Healthcare, part of Eakin Healthcare, have issued a challenge to businesses across Wales to recognise invisible illness and make their staff and customer toilets stoma friendly by adding simple things such as a hook, shelf, a bin and new signage!
Pelican Healthcare, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of disposable medical products in the UK and Ireland healthcare markets, and its sister company Respond Healthcare, which provides dispensing, home delivery and support services to the stoma and continence care community, are encouraging businesses to make the changes to their accessible toilets, then tag Pelican and Respond on social media, helping to promote and highlight the positive action being taken throughout Wales.
The challenge has been issued as part of the #BetheChange campaign, aimed at educating the public, business, and politicians, and garnering greater understanding of the needs of people living with hidden disabilities such as a stoma.
#BetheChange is an initiative led by people from across South Wales who live with a stoma, an opening in the abdomen that can be connected to either your digestive or urinary system to allow waste (urine or faeces) to be diverted out of your body and collected in a bag after part or all of the bowel is removed due to disease or obstruction. They found there was ‘a lack of understanding’, and ‘a need to educate’ society in order to ‘avoid embarrassing situations’. They therefore formed an action group, #BeTheChange Voices, joined forces and called for changes to be made within society, with the help of Respond Healthcare.
The #BetheChange campaign has already seen new accessible toilet signage created in partnership with students at Cardiff Metropolitan University, a broken circle, which is designed to encourage entry and be inclusive and supportive of all people living with hidden illnesses, be it Alzheimer’s, a stoma, anxiety or any other of the conditions experienced by people who need to use an accessible toilet but don’t have a visible illness.
Now, the campaign is calling for businesses to step up, make simple changes, and recognise that many of their staff and customers are highly likely to suffer from invisible illness as action group member,
Rachel Allen from Newport, explains:
“The issues faced by people living with a hidden illness can be many and varied. As someone who lives with a stoma and is the parent of a child with a stoma, I am passionate about encouraging greater understanding of invisible illness and what people go through.
“Society can be quick to judge and comment, particularly when looking at my son, who appears to have nothing wrong. When entering accessible toilets, it may appear to some that I’m just doing so because I have a child and it’s easier, believe me when I say, I would give anything not to have to use these toilets.
“Having the correct signage and ensuring each toilet has simple things such as a hook and shelf to help with the products stoma users carry with them would be a huge step in the right direction, take away the stigma and teach people to respect one another, for if you don’t know or live with someone with a disability, I can understand it can be hard to relate. I hope businesses, whether public facing or not, make these simple changes and therefore bring about change to people’s lives that can make a huge difference.”
