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Self–Directed Support
Welcome to the self-directed support pages. These pages are run by Develop's self-directed support inclusive practice forum. This is a partnership of organisations and individuals with an interest in promoting self-directed support by people with mental health problems. This includes direct payments, living wills and advance directives - these are some of the tools that can be used to enable service users to have more choice, real flexibility and greater control over how their support is delivered.
Our forum meets on a quarterly basis to share information, advice and recommendations about implementing a service culture that promotes self-directed support.
What we have to offer:
- We share socially inclusive practice.
- Support developing projects that are implementing self-directed support.
- We run events.
- We offer training opportunities, can signpost you to others training ansd conferences and work on solutions to current local issues around to self-directed support.
In this section you will be able to find:
- Services that offer back-up to services that are encouraging self-directed support.
- Events about self-directed support.
- Evidence and policy - Government policy, implementation guides, access local policies and procedures and the evidence about how services can implement self-directed support effectively and efficiently.
- Guidance and tools that can be used in implementing self-directed support including service user and staff guidance leaflets.
- News - stories about people's experiences of self-directed support in the borough.
- A discussion forum - A place to ask questions, find support, give and get advice and share good practice examples on all matters to do with self-directed support.
- Training about self-directed support.
If you would like to take part in the self-directed support forum please contact: sdsforum@developbromley.com
Bromley Council talk about Supporting Independence in Bromley
17th Nov 2009
Changing adult social care
You may have heard that major changes are being made to adult social care in Bromley. This is also happening across the UK. The changes will give people who need care and support more choice, control and flexibility over how they live their lives. Bromley Council are calling this programme of change Supporting Independence in Bromley.
This briefing is to answer some of the frequently asked questions about Supporting Independence in Bromley. Over the coming months there will be lots of communications to keep people in touch with what's happening.
Paradigm announce course summer sale
26th Jun 2009
Training consultancy Paradigm are having their own Summer Sale, where they are discounting their rates right down to £500 per day for their most popular training courses. This offer is open to anyone who books and has their training delivered by 31st August 2009. The courses included in the sale are:
• An introduction to Person Centred Thinking
• Person Centred planning
• Person Centred Risk Assessment
• Supported Decision Making
• Introduction to Supported Living
• Team Building
• An introduction to Self Directed Support
Please call our Paradigm on 0870 0104933 or email admin@paradigm-uk.org to discuss this offer or make a booking.
Individual budgets can provide better care, says new report
28th Oct 2008
Individual budgets can give people more choice, flexibility and control over their personal care, as well as a better quality of life, according to a pilot scheme evaluation report launched today by Care Services Minister Phil Hope.
The independent evaluation was conducted by a combined team of five university research units. It found that individual budgets had particular benefits for mental health service users and younger disabled people. While there were no important differences in overall cost (IBs cost on average about £280 compared with £300 for standard mainstream services), there were indications that individual budgets have the potential to offer greater value for money.
Individual budgets give people who have care needs the power to decide the nature of their own support and the report showed that most groups liked this. People can choose to use the money to fund the care that suits them best and fits in with their lifestyle - for example by having someone support them at home rather than going into residential care.
Mental health service users in the individual budget group reported a significantly higher quality of life. Younger physically disabled people were more likely to report higher quality of care, and were more satisfied with the help they received, the choice and control they experienced and felt they had the opportunity to build better quality support networks. People with learning disabilities were more likely to feel that they had control over their daily lives.
However, the report found that older people did not find the individual budget system used during the pilot as easy to use as the other groups, and they did not appear to like the idea of managing their own support.
Care Services Minister Phil Hope (right) said:
"Individual budgets can put people back in control of their own care, and give them a better quality of life. This report is invaluable in helping us understand the benefits of individual budgets, as well as the action we need to take so that everyone can benefit from them.
"Since this research was undertaken more support has been put in place for older people and early indicators have shown that this has transformed their experiences of using individual budgets. We will conduct further research to investigate the impacts further. We must also get better at letting people know that they don't have to take on management of the budget themselves.
This is a very complex area. We will work to address the recommendations of this report, to make greater choice and control a reality for many more people."
The results of this research will feed into work to introduce pilots of personal budgets for healthcare from 2009, as announced in the NHS Next Stage Review.
As part of the Department of Health's plan to transform social care, the Department announced in late 2007 it would empower people to shape their own lives and the services they receive through personal budgets.
The report can be found at the Department of Health website here
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