Hello, I’m Sunny Sokhal. I have started my new job as a Research Assistant on the DAPPLE project. I want to share my rap with you. I...

The other week we gathered around the talented researchers to do some training. We focused on those researchers who will be going out and learning about people’s lives and how they are supported by different services and those around them, especially when they have a life-limiting illness and may be towards the end of life. They will be going to four parts of the country and, through their engagement with people and services, developing a sense of case studies. To do this, th

Have you ever had a conversation that echoes?  Several years ago, before working at Kingston University, a chance encounter at a bus stop was to have a marked effect on me.  Moaning about the long wait, I got into a conversation with a fellow commuter, Ian*, a man with a learning disability.  After sharing some full and frank observations about the bus service, we got talking about work.  Ian mentioned that he had previously worked in a mortuary.  I had never met someone who

One of the reasons we are doing the DAPPLE project is because it helps us answer questions about how to improve palliative and end of life care research. The James Lind Alliance, along with various partner organisations, identified a series of research priorities in 2015 . When we wrote our grant, this including questions like ‘How can access to palliative care services be improved for everyone regardless of where they are in the UK?’. By focusing on finding the best ways to

Could you be a champion, working hard to make sure someone with a learning disability gets good care and support at the end of their life? You can make a difference. That’s the conclusion I came to seven years ago. For the past decade, I had chaired the judging panel for the annual Linda McEnhill Award . We selected winners from a wide range of individuals, teams and projects that had demonstrated excellence in providing palliative and end of life care to people with a learni

A friend of mine was dying of cancer. His name was Terry. It’s quite a few years ago now, but I still remember it really well. Not long...

Image: Jean Wilson. The DAPPLE project hasn’t come out of nowhere. It has not been dreamt up by academics sitting at a solitary university desk. It has been built on sighs and cries, on many people’s questions, leading to wishes and demands. More than anything, this project has come out of the voices of people with a learning disability and their families and carers. They are our foundation. Over the past decades, we have learned so much from people. We have seen how terrible

Image: Irene Tuffrey-Wijne Written by Prof Irene Tuffrey-Wijne (Project Lead) I’m delighted to welcome you to the DAPPLE project, this brand-new website and our first blog post. Whoever you are, wherever you’re reading this: WELCOME! You will find plenty of information on this website, including a wonderful video presented by my colleagues with a learning disability. What is the DAPPLE project, who is doing it, why are we doing it, what will we do? Let me tell you a little bi