UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) was first observed in 2010 after numerous disabled-led organisations expressed 'the need to have a specific time in the year when the history of our struggle for equality and human rights can be focused on'. This year's campaign, which will be the fourteenth, runs from Thursday, November 14th, to Friday, December 20th, inclusive.

UKDHM provides a unique and much-needed platform from which everybody can receive information and education about how disability has been viewed historically and how disabled rights movements have created change. It also seeks to draw inspiration from the past to inform the future, helping to make every aspect of the world more inclusive and equitable for people with disabilities.

Ignorance and negative attitudes towards people with disabilities in the past have created systemic oppression that persists today, which affects such people in numerous ways within society. UKDHM seeks to dismantle these oppressive forces, re-evaluating and re-interpreting them to create 'real, lasting change'.

Though UKDHM exists to improve people's lives, whatever their disability may be and however it affects them, each edition of the campaign has an overarching theme. This year's theme is 'Disability Livelihood and Employment'.

Disability Livelihood and Employment

For many years and right up to the present day in some cases, disability has been regarded as being synonymous with unemployment. Thankfully, this is changing and a lot of the developments in this area are positive. That said, there is still much work to be done.

From 2013 until early 2020 (the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic), the general trend in the number of people with disabilities in employment in the UK was on the increase. The disability employment gap (defined as the difference between the rate of non-disabled and disabled people in employment) was seen to be narrowing.  

SDO® Original Suit in the No. 8 Pink Aztec theme

When the pandemic hit, there was a noticeable reversal in these trends, with the disability employment gap widening and the disability employment rate falling. The latest available data, covering April to June of 2023, shows that the disability employment rate has risen by just a single percentage point as compared to the same time period in 2019.

This year's UKDHM theme will focus on the fact that people with certain disabilities still have higher rates of non-employment; these disabilities include intellectual impairments, visual impairments, mental health issues and autism. UKDHM 2024 will bring together resources that demonstrate this and will help to inform people on how a 'more equitable way forward' can be achieved.

Medigarments Ltd is a specialist designer, manufacturer and supplier of a wide range of therapeutic solutions that enable people with disabilities to manage their symptoms effectively, thus improving their quality of life. This range includes our leading collection of SDO® dynamic compression garments.

SDO® helps improve independence

Living with disabilities can be challenging, but there are numerous methods of making life easier, including wearing dynamic compression garments from The World of SDO® by Medigarments Ltd. Designed and manufactured in Britain, these high-quality medical compression garments, also known as dynamic Lycra® garments or Sensory Dynamic Orthosis™, consist of SDO® Original, SDO® Lite and the Sensory Hug®.

We are dedicated to providing the ultimate in therapy management, with a focus on improving patient quality of life.

For further information, please browse our website or reach out to our expert clinical team. For more special features like this one here, please subscribe to our free email newsletter or spread the word by liking and following us on LinkedIn,Facebook, X and Instagram.

Medigarments Ltd is the company behind the internationally recognised brands Jobskin^® and SDO^®. We lead the way in rehabilitation therapy and are the largest UK manufacturer of specialist custom compression garments supplied through therapy and orthotic professionals.­ Our reputation for the design and supply of technically advanced garments has been built over 40 years supplying the highest quality made-to-measure products. Our garments are used to manage scarring as a result of burns or traumatic injuries. In the field of dynamic compression, they are used to increase sensory and proprioceptive feedback as well as provide musculoskeletal support.

SDO^® Original and Sensory Hug^® are part of The World of SDO^® Sensory Dynamic Orthosis range of dynamic Lycra^® compression garments by Medigarments Ltd. SDO^® and Sensory Hug^® are the registered trademarks of Medigarments Ltd.