In light of the enquiry, we talked to Chris and Lynn Walker, Shared Lives Providers in Scarborough, about how Shared Lives can enhance people's human rights.
The Commission noted older people want more of a say about how their care: how can care Shared Lives providers ensure customers make meaningful choices?
‘We know their history, by what the customer says or by asking the family, and we find out what they like. Sometimes this can be ‘hit and miss’, either because the customer has limited communication skills, or because some residents will say they want something to please us, rather than expressing their true interests. So observing behaviour is an important way for us to learn more about the people we support.
For example, one of our residents, Peter, who had very limited verbal skills, would lean forwards when rugby came on the TV, showing an interest. Peter’s father had played international rugby, and his brother also played. I started taking Peter to local rugby matches, which he thoroughly enjoyed.’
The Commission noted people value having a small number of familiar and reliable staff: how does Shared Lives provide consistency
‘Even when people receive good care changes of staff can mean different approaches, which can be confusing. The great advantage of our care system is that it’s the same people every day, all day. There are no changes of staff and there are familiar faces all the time, so we have a good understanding of the people we care for.’
The Commission revealed a disregard for people’s privacy and dignity when carrying out intimate tasks; how do you resolve the need for care with privacy?
‘People are treated with dignity all the time, and we are sensitive to providing the level of care needed whilst preserving individual privacy. Our home is their home, but everyone has their own rooms. We help them, and assess what they can do - if they can do it themselves we let them get on with it, maybe close at hand, but not interfering.’
The Commission found many older people feel socially isolated: how can Shared Care support people to take part in community life?
‘We encourage friends and family to visit, we would never say no, you can’t see someone. We encourage our customers to be involved in community life. For example, our customers accompany us to the shops and local church, everyone is very friendly and everyone treated with dignity. The amount each person can do on their own varies, we assess what they can do, supporting them towards independence gradually. We ensure everything is in place for them to do the things they want to do, but we don’t push.
Peter, for example, gained confidence in going to the local shops on his own, was able to travel across town to Basics Plus, a social enterprise in Scarborough providing work based skills for people with learning disabilities, where he helped in the kitchen.’
Chris say he enjoys his work and that contributes to the happiness of their customers. By treating people as individuals, the biggest rewards for Chris and Lynn are seeing their customers gaining independent living and social skills, living fulfilled lives.
Lynne feels strongly that bad press about caring does not reflect the majority of good practice. She said ‘there are a lot of good carers, especially at Avalon. For so many carers the benefits to clients shows their work is worthwhile, and we get a lot out of it’.
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