Outside the Box

‘Did you know?’ – information about disabled people
o 1 in 5 of the population of Scotland, nearly 1 million people, has rights
under the Disability Discrimination Act.
o There is a disabled person or a person with a long-term condition living
in over 1 in 3 households in Scotland.
o Scotland has an ageing population and the probability of having a
disability increases with age. The average age of a person with a longterm
condition or disability is 58 years and 70% of disabled people are
aged over 65.
o 729,000 people have some form of hearing loss, deafness or may be a
Deaf person. 80% of hearing impaired people are aged over 60 years.
o 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem at some point in
their lives.
o 68% of disabled people have an annual income of less than £10,000.
o Of 100 disabled people surveyed in Scotland, 44 considered a positive
attitude from staff as having the most influence on improving their
experience of accessing services.
o Of 832 blind and visually impaired people sampled, 55% required help
in finding a seat in the waiting area in GP surgeries, yet only 26%
received it.
o People experiencing serious mental health problems are likely to die 10
years earlier than their counterparts who do not have such problems.
o People with learning difficulties are also less likely to use diagnostic
services: women with learning difficulties have fewer mammograms and
cervical smears.
o Of 866 deaf and hard hearing people who responded to a survey, 24%
said they have missed an appointment because of poor communication
– such as not being able to hear staff calling out their name. Some 19%
have missed more than five appointments.
o Nearly half of deafblind people sampled have undergone procedures
(operations, injections, drips) that had not been explained.