It has been a year since I started my role as the Community Health and Engagement Officer at Ross Care. Coming from a foreign country, just a few months prior, I initially felt of a huge challenge. The company also underwent some significant changes during this time. As I progressed, I unveiled more about the role and how I can make a change in the community I serve.

The CHEO role plays a vital function in the service provision mechanism in shifting the focus towards the lived experience of the service user. It challenges the medical model of disability and strengthens the social model which identifies that disability is necessarily a consequence of barriers set by the society by not being able to provide needed equipment, services, and a positive attitude towards people with impairments.

During this year we have been able to take several key strides towards achieving this goal.

• Establishing a service user engagement forum and regularly meetings to discuss ways to improve out services and co-design projects
• Establishing several new communication channels including social media platforms and a newsletter
• Collaborative projects with several community partners
• Organizing a successful work experience programme that resulted in a paid employment
• Developing and formalizing several internal mechanisms to identify and address deficiencies in service provision

I am so thankful to the community I serve, work partners and the Ross Care team members for embracing me and being so supportive. As we anticipate new challenges in the year ahead, your CHEO eagerly looks forward to creating more opportunities for our service users to feel liberated and achieve their fullest potential and life aspirations!

Jeev Gunasekera