Just ask Sara how to make life easier

A free and 'easy to use' online service which enables older and disabled people to lead independent lives is being offered by Enfield Council.Called AskSARA, it guides users to a range of devices and advice which will help to improve their quality of life and make tasks such as cooking, bathing, taking medication and chores easier to perform.

Cllr Alev Cazimoglu, Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Health & Adult Social Care, said: “People want to live independently in their own homes and Enfield Council wants to make it easy for them to do so.  AskSARA is a brilliant way of helping them do precisely that by identifying their needs and then suggesting ways of meeting those needs.

“AskSARA covers more than 70 topics that are grouped under broad headings such as health, home and children. Within each heading there are categories that focus on specific aids – and users can answer questions to help them identify their concerns across all aspects of life. I hope people of all ages will find AskSARA helpful.”

Typical users of the service are expected to include family members and carers who are keen to find the types of equipment that might improve their loved ones’ lives and enable them to live independently.

AskSARA’s advice has been written by the Disabled Living Foundation’s team of occupational therapists and all of the content is governed by the NHS’s Information Standard.

Live links also take users to Europe’s largest database of assistive technology products – with details of over 14,000 products from over 900 manufacturers and suppliers.

The Disabled Living Foundation has worked with Enfield Council’s front-line staff and with carers and users of services to ensure that AskSARA is easy to use and covers information with live links to useful local and national organisations.

A wide variety of signposting is included from handyman and trader schemes to falls prevention and energy efficiency details. 

Users of the service can complete feedback reports and help to guide and influence how future service development.

The service can be used from the Enfield Council website at : www.enfield.gov.uk   or at http://asksara.dlf.org.uk/?auth=enfield