Hi - anyone in supported housing? How do you find it?

hanaban

Hi everybody

anyone in supporting house? How do you find it?

WhatThe

Bump

Jane26J

hi my daughter moved into supported living a couple of years ago, we found it via her social worker/local council They have a system (Brokerage) where they share the needs of individuals with providers, the providers that had a suitable place got in touch with me and I’d go and view. It took me 2years and many many visits (some where appalling) to find somewhere I was happy with. I think you can search and find your own but I tried this and unless you know of somewhere specific it’s very hard as it’s always old peoples homes that come up on line. All the best

StaySilentNoMore

Hi there!

You have not explained what type of supported housing you need. If you are being threatened with homelessness. You need to declare yourself as homeless or to be threatened with homelessness in the next 3 months…

StaySilentNoMore

It would not let me finish. Oops.

Personally, I have found it very challenging. I do not recommend it if you can help it. It would be helpful to know more about your situation so I can give you some context.

surfygoose

I live in a residential care home for autism. I like it.

worried33

Someone suggested it to me, and it seems ideal, but I guess as always someone at the council has to decide you need it, because these places unless private seem to require referrals like everything else does now days.

Newflatt

Morning all. I'm just passing through, found this trying to find out more about things. I'm disabled and I've just moved into a retirement property, part of block owned by a well-known HA. The flat is lovely. Other things are mind-bending. I was asked for feedback so I gave it….Thought people might be interested in what the basics of daily life are like. I'm not the only person with a walker. HAs wriggling out of the Equality Act is a really interesting topic.

. I can only walk with a four wheel walker and I need to be holding on to something and so only have one hand free, unless the walker is safely parked. The architects of the building don’t seem to have had mobility issues in mind; certainly not wheels, and people with sticks may also have problems. I thought ramps would be automatic and find fire-doors with only a step.

I am only able to live here because I can afford to pay for the help the laundry and bin store demand. In the normal world I don’t need paid help for trash or laundry so dependence is here enforced rather than independence supported, I was fine in my previous normal flat with a weekly assisted collection from the Council of rubbish and recycling from outside the front door of my block, about 20 paces from the door of my flat, and my own washing-machine Assisted collections have been going for 20-30 going on 40 years. I am 71. My mother had a washing-machine when I was 5. This is somewhat like the land that time forgot and also something of a double whammy, since being independent and solving one’s own problems is nixed by the design of the building making the simple obvious solutions of washing-machine and assisted collection impossible.

Everyone over 55 is assumed to have the mobility of a teen? Alternatively it’s given anyone disabled has helpers? Kids would seem a useful thing to have here. 30% of UK adults are single and roughly 12 million of us are childless. If you have wheels you are not expected to be dependent on them but can put them aside and manage steps. However fit you are, you may resist the tedium of the bin store, trekking with your load to the car park in rain, sleet, snow, ice or just devastating heat. Since the kitchen has limited space for rubbish and recycling, you might want to waste your time doing this more than once a week. Maybe the members of the Board do routinely cart their dirty washing to a row of machines all already in use and have to take it away again and come back later, but I rather doubt it. If you do not collect your washing very promptly, others may dump it in the laundry baskets. Unknown old men rummaging through my washing is supposed to be normal? Some older people have incontinence issues. Of course everyone wants to trail the result through public space. You could say sensibilities can be sacrificed to convenience but there’s not a lot of that either. Do you really think these facilities are how people normally live, and there is nothing eyebrow-raising about them? I have looked at several listings. They need to say a budget may be required to pay for help and to clearly say in which areas that help may be required.

Doors that will not stay open have to be held open with one hand and the walker manipulated over thresholds with the other, The gangway in the laundry room is barely more than the width of my walker. The machines are on the left. I am like most people right-handed. It is not easy for me to turn and I have sometimes got stuck in the gangway and had to liberate myself, so going to the end of the room where it opens out is better. The gangway may be part-occupied by the open doors of machines, the WARNING WET FLOOR sandwich board or laundry baskets which could be left on the draining-board or on the chair. If it’s my washing dumped in them, it’s not easy for me to pick it up from the floor. The washing-machines and tumble-driers on top of them are flush so there are no firm handholds and no ledges for instance between them where one may put detergent, or onto which to lean if rescuing some smaller item from the back of a machine. Safe parking is not easy and what I have to do in order to have the use of both hands. Sometimes the journey is wasted because all the machines are in use. Sometimes I simply wait outside until the room is empty because there is no room for me with people there. Of course I inconvenience others who may have to wait outside for me to leave

I have a home help once a week to take out the trash. So far as the laundry goes I may punch my fist in the air when the job is done, as one who has slain a small dragon, and I am on a mission to identify quiet periods, but basically it’s OTT, reminiscent more of a student hostel than support for age, and I shall find someone else to do at least some of it.

Rachel_Scope

Hi @Newflatt and welcome to the community. Thank you for sharing that, it was interesting to read. I think you made the issues clear and I really hope they make changes so it's more accessible for you and others. I'd be interested to know their response if you're happy to share?

MrHappy2

I've lived in supported housing for 7yrs and on balance its hard to see any difference between supported housing and standard housing. The Warden spends one day a week on sight but rarely ventures outside of her office. And as far as i can see there are no other services offered or provided. The added cost all residents pay to live in this sheltered housing facility is somewhere in the region of £15 per week. There is a communal lounge that no one ever uses, there are CCTV cameras in all the corridors and residents car park that haven't been operational for as long as i've lived here, and there is a communal laundry room. Oh and the windows get washed (very poorly) once every four months.

Rag_793

It is a fine balancing act to find the perfect Supported Living house. I am an ex Support Worker who worked with people’s with mental and physical disabilities.

You would very likely require an assessment to demonstrate how difficult and challenging you find taking care of yourself at home due to a physical disability, learning difficulty, mental health condition and age-related issues. This is so as they can get a picture of what your care and needs are for if you go into Supported Living.

Social Services would do an assessment of your income and savings to make a decision if you qualify for funding towards the cost of your care.

I would personally phone up my local Social Services to request a care needs assessment.

An assessment will determine if you need one to one support help, or shared support hours, or help with daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, personal care, going out in public, budgeting etc.

If they give you the green light to look for a suitable place to live be it in a shared house or even in your own flat or house with a member of staff on duty either 24 hours a day or for as long as they are contracted for if your able to stay safe in your home until the next day.

Social Workers, Occupational Therapist’s, Doctor’s, Nurses, Physiotherapists, Psychologists etc would all be involved in making sure that all your needs and care are thought of and support you in all Assessments and also transition into Supported Living and onwards from there.

Either by yourself or with family or a trusted friend or partner, have a look at

https://www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-support/care-services-equipment-and-care-homes/supported-living-services/

for advice and help in finding somewhere that you want to live, that will take care of your care and help you maintain your independence.

With a multi shared House with Supported Living, it is a balancing act to find the perfect fit. As there are many differing challenges, conditions, obstacles and personalities to navigate. For you to feel comfortable and confident that the people you live with hopefully have things in common, want to do activities both in the home together or maybe go out for say a meal, cinema, ten pin bowling etc

If you live in a shared house for example with finances :- with agreement from those who are in charge of your money through a signed agreement with yourself which would likely be a family member, partner or social services. Each week staff would as an example if there were three people - each would contribute £50 towards shopping and other bills. Each Service User would have their own lockable petty cash tin with their money or debit card which would be locked in a secure cabinet. Two staff would count your money alongside the household bills tin, each day to make sure it is correct and your balance is correct and both would counter sign the paper work.

The Care Company you would choose would sit down with you and come up with a shared agreement, which is a legal tenancy or license arrangement where an individual rents their own private bedroom while sharing communal spaces (like the kitchen and lounge) with a small group of housemates, operating under a contract that is kept entirely separate from their care and support package.

A separate shared agreement for your care would be drawn up with the support of hospital specialist passes the routine prescribing and monitoring of a specific medicine over to your general practitioner.

All staff at where you may live will have full medication training so as to prescribe medication at a set time during the day which would build into a routine. Staff will each week sit down and do a Medication Check, which would entail them counting your medication to make sure that everything is correct, they would then fill a form out as they go along and then sign and date it.

Staff will have basic first aid training alongside specialist training such as for conditions such as Epilepsy, Diabetes, alongside this they will have formal training for mental and physical health conditions alongside Health & Safety, Dignity in the workplace alongside specialised training such as University Degree and NVQ.

Support Staff each day will fill out daily notes on your mood, activities, pooh chart, what you have eaten, whether you have had a good or bad day etc.

Staff will also aid you in maintaining your independence both in the home and outside in public and group settings. Staff will help you to maintain relationships with your partner, family and friends.