Self-Directed Support Awareness Week

Self-directed Support Awareness Week

‘SDS Blether’

13th – 17th June

Contents:

1. Briefing 1-4

2. Social Media Guide5-7

3. Case study with SDS Budget8-9

4. Case study without an SDS Budget10-11

5. A Good Conversation12-19

Why not have a SDS blether?

SDS Blether Week 13 – 17th June

#SDSblether

The Challenge

In the run up to and during 13th – 17th June we invite you to have a quality Self-directed Support (SDS)conversation with one or two colleagues in your organisationwho don’t know much about SDS.

We’re not asking for you spend a lot of time on this, but to have a natural conversation with someone you wouldn’t usually to assist your colleague to a betterunderstanding of SDS. The aim of the week and months that follow is to encourage relationships to be built to enable more SDS success.

Why not start with a question such as:

When you have a good day, what are the things that make it good? Then make this relevant to a social care service user and what makes a good day for them. If you don’t have any SDS stories of your own why not use our stories attached.

If you are already having conversation on What Matters to You Day on 6th June why not keep the conversation going on SDS?

Share your conversations and elevator pitches

We want to get a conversation started to help each other build relationships and have good quality conversations. So do share your SDS conversations on twitter using the hashtag #SDSblether.

Why not upload a video on twitter of you in a lift doing your elevator pitch that we asked you for in our last communications?

See social media guide for some examples of what and how to share these.

Why we are asking you to do this?

National partners have recently sought feedback from people who receive support, care providers, support organisations and local authorities on what is working well, and what is not working so well to implement SDS. Analysis of this tells us that it works best when everyone works together, there is flexibility and creativity. It doesn’t work well when there isn’t a shared understanding, systems and processes get in the way, people aren’t in control of their decision making or there is a limit to the choices available within a locality.

The 3 things we all need to do to make self-directed support a reality for everyone, everywhere are:

• create a shared understanding of what SDS is;
• share stories and evidence to win over hearts and minds;
• promote the principles of choice and control as fundamental to improved health and wellbeing.

What we’re looking to achieve?

We know from experience and case studies that the small things in people’s lives make a big difference. Through SDS Blether Week and beyond we want you and your colleagues tokeep havingquality conversations to focus on the big impact small changes can have in a supported individual’s life. Through these continued conversations we want everyone to move towards having a shared understanding of Self-directed Support.

What is Self-directed Support?

Self-directed Support allows people, their carers and families to make informed choices about what their support looks like and how it is delivered. Having greater control of your life and decision making leads to improved health and wellbeing.

Local authority social work departments have a legal duty to offer people who are eligible for social care a range of informed choices over their care and support. These choices are outlined in legislation.

Even if a person is not eligible for a formal public service or personal budget, any assessment process, contact with universal public services and engagement with voluntary organisations should follow these principles of choice and control.

Some ways of explaining SDS to your colleagues could be:

‘Imagine your care was like this elevator, but no matter which floor you pressed it took you to same one every time. The waiting room has one door in and a revolving door out and there is only one person you can see. The receptionist decides how long you wait, hours, days or weeks. When you see the person on the other side of that one door, they decide how many minutes, hours , days, month or years you see them. Sound bad dream…
SDS means every floor is different, the receptionist can introduce you to wealth of new people, and the time is convenient to you….
SDS is not what you spend it’s how you spend it…try a different level today…making personalised care a reality…’

Or:

‘SDS is a breath of fresh air – a way of delivering support which gives the power of choice, flexibility and control to individuals which will help them to live their life, their way. There are benefits and challenges however SDS has the potential to make history and to change lives for the better.’

Let us know how it went?

All we ask is for you to let us know how your SDS blether went.

To feedback register online at: email telling us:

• Whoyou talked to?
• How it felt?
• What happened as a result of the conversation?

You can share your experience on twitter using #SDSblether.

Let’s have aSDSblether!

If you need further information or a different format please get in touch with Gemma at:

Self Directed Support Scotland

Telephone: 0131 475 2623

Email:

Follow us on Twitter @SDSScot

or use the hashtag #SDSblether

Social Media Guide

#SDSblether

The theme for SDS blether is the small things make the big difference and how a good quality conversation can make a difference to a service user’s life.

Why not join the conversations, here are a few suggestions on ways to get involved.

If you are joining the conversation on social media here are a few things you could do:

Suggested tweets

• tweet your elevator pitches
• tweet a video version of your elevator pitches
• tweet pictures of you having quality conversations
• we’re having an SDS blether are you?
• we’re having quality conversations during #SDSblether week are you?
• we’re having a #SDSblether with our finance dept sharing ideas & ways forward
• we’re having a cuppa & a #SDSblether
• we’re having a #SDSblether on what’s important to them get the conversation started

Suggested questions to have as part of your blether

The main part to this is assisting your colleagues to a better understanding of SDS. Ways of doing this could be sharing different definitions or exercises that put the person in someone else’s position.

What most important to you?

How much do you know about SDS? (Tailor your explanation to your audience)

In your job what do you think needs to change?

If you are looking for a bit of guidance on how to set up twitter please see below.

The Beginner’s Guide to Twitter

If you’re new to Twitter or have never Tweeted before, don’t worry! Just follow these 6 easy steps and you’ll be ready to join the Twittersphere.

1. Set up your account.

Go to Twitter to get started. Enter your name, email, and a password. Click Sign up. You will now be taken to a second screen where can select a username. This is the name by which you will be known on Twitter.

What name should you use?

Your real name is best—if it’s available. If not, you can try using a middle initial or prefacing it with something like “the” or “real” (e.g., “TheFrankDavis” or “Real FrankDavis”).

Now click on the Create my account button. That’s it. You are now official a member of the Twitter community. Congratulations!

Next, Twitter will assist you in getting started. It will explain what a tweet is and give you the opportunity to “follow” a few friends, popular people, or brands. You can opt out of these steps for now if you wish. Simply click the Skip this step link.

2. Make it Personal

You can personalise your Twitter account by uploading a picture of yourself. This is easy to do my clicking on the Profile tab. You can also add in a bit more information about yourself, including your location. You can make this as serious or as fun as you like but it must be short – you only have 160 characters!

When you are finished, click the Save button.

3. Follow family and friends.

You can add your family and friends by clicking in the “Search” field at the top of your home page. You can type in a username or first and last name. When you do, you will get a list of users who match your search criteria.

You can begin “following” them by simply clicking on the Follow button.

4. Learn the basic commands

Think of Twitter as a room full of people, all sitting in a circle. It’s a conversation. When you update your status, you are speaking to the whole group. Everyone can hear what you have to say.

Replies. If you want to direct your comments to one specific person in the circle, but loud enough that everyone else can hear, use the “Reply” function. You address the person by using their Twitter user name preceded by the “@” symbol. For example:

@spencesmith I get my haircut at Freshcuts in Falkirk

Everyone who is following Spence and me will see the message, but I am specifically directing it to Spence. (Those who are not following both of us will not see the message.)

The thing about replies is that they are “clickable links.” If someone who is following me, clicks on one of the names, they will automatically go to that person’s Twitter page. This will give them the opportunity to follow that person, too.

Hash tags. You are probably familiar with tagging photos with a short piece of text.

The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. If you click on a hash tag, it will show you all the other tweets associated with a hashtag.

So you can easily follow what everyone is saying about SDS Blether Week.

For example, someone might say:

Learning loads about where I can go for more support #SDSblether

5. Start tweeting

So now you are all setup. It’s time to start posting.

The main thing you need to know is that the message can be no longer than 140 characters long. Twitter will automatically count your characters as you type as Tweet.

You can obviously say what you like on Twitter. But if you’d specifically like to Tweet about SDS Blether Week, we’ve got some suggestions of the type of things you might like to Tweet about.

6. Butbe careful.

Remember to be cautious. You especially need to be careful about sharing too much private or personal information that could compromise your safety or that of your loved ones.

#SDSblether week Case study

• How does a good conversation support people to get the help and reassurance they are looking for?
• How can the principles of SDS be applied when people are eligible for a social care budget?

When Self-directed Support was implemented, Rose and her famiy contacted Evelyn at AILN, who they already knew, to help them design Rose’s care plan and how her support would be delivered.

The family worked through My Life My Plan with East Ayrshire Council and were allocated a budget but weren’t really sure what to do next or how best to use/apply it. Evelyn looked at what they had, deducted the staffing requirements and then they suggested they all discuss what would really benefit Rose. What would make positive and real changes?

Rose told Evelyn she would dearly love for her parents to have a well deserved break, and that it would make her feel much better knowing they had some time to themselves.

The whole family felt it was important for Rose to get out and socialise more, previous trips out to coffee shops with the care company hadn’t been a positive experience for her.

Rose is a huge football fan but when attending the matches previously her condition meant that she would be left freezing cold, uncomfortable and literally blue after being outside during the game.

Everyone was keen for Rose to get back to her swimming and that it was important for her to work on her health in a safe environment.

Her biggest wish was for a new wheelchair which would allow her to stand up.

After these were highlighted as the main things Evelyn set to work researching the possibilities.

She researched the accessibility to local pools and membership to Bannatyne’s gym and leisure facility. Bannatyne’s offered private access for Rose when the pool was closed. Rose’s football club suggested a VIP ticket, where she could watch the game from inside the VIP area in the warmth, and with a good viewpoint. Evelyn also researched and priced a wheelchair that would allow Rose to stand up and looked into 24 hour respite four times a year for Rose’s parents.

Evelyn wrote the findings up in a report and the proposed plan was given to the local authority social work department. After a few weeks later the news came through from the care plan had been approved and implemented. The difference for the whole family has been huge. Rose is now able to do what may seem like such a simple thing, get something out of an overhead kitchen cupboard and stand up at concerts. She gets 2 trips per year to watch football matches and her health doesn’t suffer for it and she can socialise and work on her fitness in the pool and gym. Mum and dad get some time to themselves and everyone’s life is less defined by others, they are all more independent.

#SDSblether week Case Story

• How does a good conversation support people to get the help and reassurance they are looking for?
• How can the principles of Self-directed Support (SDS) be applied when people are not eligible for a social care budget?
• Please see the below story on the principles above been applied.

iConnect North East is a local independent support organisation in Aberdeen city that provides information and advice on SDS and links people to events and activities in the local community. After seeing an iConnect poster in the Physiotherapy department of Woodend Hospital, Bill and Elizabeth got in touch. They were concerned about their Mother (Agnes) who had been in hospital for over seven months recovering from a stroke. The Hospital told them she was now well enough to go home and the rehabilitation support she had been receiving would come to an end. They were upset and angry that there was going to be no support in place and worried how she was going to cope all week on her own whilst the rest of the family worked.

iConnectmet with Bill and Elizabeth in their central shop-front office. They listened to their concerns and spent the time asking the siblings about their expectations for support and what their Mother could and couldn’t do. They used a 24/7 Calendar tool to plot out what informal support structures were there (or could be there) already. They saw that there was the potential for the wider family to support Agnes one or two days a week by visiting.

Having recognised that there may also be a mismatch in the expectations of the family and Agnes, they also met with Agnes, Bill and Elizabeth at home. They used this time to find out what Agnes was interested in and what she would like to do. They identified the local lunch club and a local ladies group that she was interested in joining. iConnect then contacted members of these local clubs who visited and told the family more about them and how they could arrange transport and support to get to them. These informal clubs had been identified by iConnect by the community mapping work they also do.

For Bill, Elizabeth and Agnes the time spent listening to their concerns and fears made all the difference. They were helped to see what natural support they already had (when they first felt they had none) and were put in touch with existing community groups. The type of independent support that iConnect can offer is important. The time for quality conversations means people feel they have greater choice and control about how to care for themselves and their families.

iConnect NE is currently funded through the Scottish Government’s SDS Support in the Right Direction Fund.

PARALLEL LIVES

For anyone who has seen the film, Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow, they would see that one small change in a person’s life can have a huge impact. It can set about a chain of events which will alter the course of not only their life but also the lives of those around them. Sometimes only we can change our own lives, however, along the way we need the help and support of others to help us achieve outcomes for us and the people we love and care for. I am passionate about Carers - I have been a Carer all my life, firstly for my sister who has learning disabilities then to a certain extent for my first husband who had some health issues and for my 18 year old daughter who has learning disabilities and severe autism. I am a strong, confident person who has a life outside of caring - this has been achieved with the help of my husband, my daughter’s father, my son and the Personalisation budget which has been allocated by Social Work. The following story will serve to show how things can work out differently in life, depending on the actions of people. There are some elements in this story which are true of my life and I have used my children’s names purely to make it easier for me. However, in this story I think lots of Carers will relate to the feelings, emotions behaviours and actions portrayed.