In this episode of the SOM Podcast, Angela Matthews, Head of Policy and Research at Business Disability Forum and Mandy Whalley, founder of The Empowerment Passport™ and registered occupational therapist, discuss the need for and many benefits of disability passports.

Angela and Mandy explain how these passports are helping employees with disabilities and long-term conditions manage their workplace adjustments. They provide an overview of the history and current use of disability passports and insights into the challenges and opportunities presented by different passport models. Hosted by Steve Randall.

About the speakers:

Angela Matthews is Head of Policy and Research at Business Disability Forum (BDF). She is an adviser to and research partner on several academic research projects related to work, health, and disability. She delivers BDF’s responses to public policy consultations and leads research engagement with disabled employees in BDF’s member organisations. Angela’s current research projects at BDF include language and culture change in disability workforce reporting methodologies, workplace adjustments, and interventions for better transitions between higher education and employment.

Mandy Whalley is an occupational therapist whose diverse career has been a journey through many settings. Mandy’s passion for neurodiversity comes from her professional and personal life supporting her son with autism, ADHD and dyslexia. Her journey has been driven by wanting to understand people’s needs and find person centred solutions to their goals. This led to the creation of her empowerment passport.

Links:

• The Empowerment Passport™: https://empowermentpassport.co.uk/ 
• Business Disability Forum (BDF): https://businessdisabilityforum.org.uk/
• Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM): https://www.som.org.uk/

The SOM podcast is sponsored by Orchid Live - specialist occupational health software used by a number of SOM members to run every aspect of their occupational health operations. They hold healthcare records for over 1 million UK workers and work with both in-house OH teams and OH providers. You can find out more at OrchidLive.com.