The Pixel Fund is helping Cerebral Palsy Scotland to employ a Clinical Psychologist to meet the mental health and wellbeing needs of people with cerebral palsy that they support.
Cerebral Palsy Scotland is a charity that improves the lives of children and adults with cerebral palsy (CP) through specialist therapy, support and information.
A lifelong condition, cerebral palsy results from an injury to the infant brain that causes disruption to the development of movement, posture and balance. Around 150 children in Scotland are diagnosed with CP every year.
Since the charity was established in 1995, their specialist therapist team have been committed to enabling people with CP to pursue achievement at all levels. This could be improving mobility and posture, looking at new ways to tackle day-to-day activities like eating and dressing, or supporting people to be able to communicate better.
But in recent years, the charity has recognised the urgent need to secure additional funding to also support the mental health and wellbeing needs of children and adults with CP.
People with disabilities or chronic health conditions are reported to be three to four times more at risk of developing anxiety and depression. The impact of Covid lockdowns, leading to isolation and lack of access to health services, further impacted the mental health of people with cerebral palsy. The charity’s own research has also highlighted the lack of mental health support currently available to the CP community.
Over 2021-22, Cerebral Palsy Scotland was able to offer 21 individual psychology support sessions to people with CP. With the support of the Pixel Fund and others, the goal is now to build on this by securing funding to employ a Clinical Psychologist on a part-time basis and increase the support they can offer.
Feedback from psychology support sessions offered in 2021-22 have shown just how important this service will be for the CP community. Marion had weekly support sessions with a Clinical Psychologist through the charity. She said:
“I have benefited a great deal from my support sessions because without the input I don’t believe I could have coped with everything as well as I did. Even being able to email in between sessions helped me a great deal. I felt more confident too. The support was very important to me at a difficult time in my life, and I felt the benefit of having someone who understood CP.”
As well as supporting adults with CP, the psychology support service will also help parents who have experienced traumatic birth and are adjusting to the lifetime prognosis of the condition, as well as young adolescents with CP who are trying to make sense of the impact of their condition on their lives as they get older.
More information on Cerebral Palsy Scotland is available on their website: https://cerebralpalsyscotland.org.uk/