Louise Watch Bsc. MA. PGC.
Louise has 30 years of experience working both within local authorities and organisations of disabled people. She has researched recruitment and retention of personal assistants and published a number of works (see below). Her career has focused around personal assistance support and establishing and managing Direct Payment policies and support services. Key to her work has been in the provision of training around self-directed personalised assistance, social worker education, independent living, rights and citizenship.
Through her company, Louise has spoken at many national conferences and also provided disability equality training, consultancy and independent living support for individual disabled people and many different businesses across the UK. Louise retired in 2015, moving to voluntary training, education and consultancy in the same field to present day.
Louise has worked with:
- Social Work educator – sessional specialist lecturer and assessor for social work students at Canterbury Christchurch University and University of Greenwich.
- University of Kent at Medway – Former Event Organiser and consultant for the Partnership Initiative (User and carer forum for those involved in social work education).
- Kent and Medway Social Work Education Group: Advisory Member for 2010.
- Former consultant for personalisation and implementation of direct payments in the London Borough of Croydon including cresting an on-line training and learning portal.
- Social Work education and training around personal budgets for London Borough of Bromley.
- Former consultant and trainer for Essex Council Adult and Children’s Services: direct payments / personalised support and change management.
- Former consultant for establishment of Hertfordshire Personal Assistance Support Service.
- Former Manager of Kent Direct Payment Scheme. Establishing and managing the support services across Kent County Council, forming direct payment policy, staff training, promoting the work of personal assistants and supporting care agencies to understand personal budgets.
- Kent contract to work with individuals during closure of day services (person centred planning, using direct payments, peer support, access audits for community venues).
- Former Disability Equality Trainer and social work educator working across the UK implementing the Disability Discrimination Act (and later Equality Act 2010).
- Many businesses and charities as a freelance disability practitioner until retirement
- Human Rights and Humanitarian law volunteer community educator for the British Red Cross.
Education
- 2009: Social Inclusion Trainer for mental health within Museums & Galleries
- 2009: PGC ( Distinction)Disability Equality Practitioner in Equality and Change Management at Anglia Ruskin University.
- 2008: Accredited Disability Equality Trainer
- 2004: MA (Distinction) Disability Studies at Leeds University
- 1997: BSc Medical Electronis.
- 1995-2002: Child Protection, NVQ Assessing and Teaching, Humanitarian Aid and Emergency Care and Ambulance Control for the British Red Cross.
Published Works
- Watch, L. (2015). In celebration of the closure of the Independent Living Fund. Disability & Society, 30(9), 1434–1438. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2015.1091150
- Mark My Words! Service User and Carer Involvement in Social Work Academic Assessment. Social Work Education, Volume 32, Number 5, 1 August 2013 , pp. 560-575(16)
- Social Work with Adults, Chapter 6: Working with people with physical impairments. Edited by Georgina Koubel.Published June 2013. ISBN-10: 0335245420 | ISBN-13: 978-0335245420
- Developments in Direct Payments. Edited by Janet Leece and Joanna Bornat. January 2006. Section 3 “The freedom of Direct Payments” p 125-127 .
About Disability Studies (MA).
I have an academic background in Disability Studies / Social Policy and have carried out research into Personal Assistance (recruitment and employment) and Direct Payments at the University of Leeds as part of this programme.
Achieving the highest award of distinction, Disability Studies provided Louise with a sound academic background in the following subjects.
• Disability and health and social support services: statutory services, voluntarism and self help.
• Politics, independent living and the disabled people’s movement.
• The welfare state: rights, needs and the creation and maintenance of dependence.
• Disability and the family: the cost of caring and the courtesy stigma.
• Disability and education: segregation, integration and inclusion.
• Disability, leisure and social life: exclusion, isolation, sexuality and relationships.
• Disability and multiple oppression
• Impairment, disability and handicap: definitions and the importance of meaning and language.
• Theoretical perspectives of disability
• The history of disability: from ignorance and superstition to scientific rationality.
• Disability and feminism
• Disability and globalisation.
• Disability and employment: discrimination and government policy on the employment of disabled people.
• Disability and the social security system: poverty, the financial costs of impairment and assessment procedures.
• Disability and the built environment: housing, transport and public buildings.
• Cultural representations of disability; the role of the media and charity advertising.
• Disability culture and a disabled identity.
• Accessing disability information, national and local.
• User involvement: putting theory into practice.
• Counselling disabled people.
• Disability Equality Training.
• Doing disability research: traditional positivist and interactionist methods.
