Date published: 2023-06-21 | Category: Adult Social Care and Health
A unique service that has been supporting adults with care needs in Bath & North East Somerset for more than 20 years is looking for more households who are willing to share their home with a person from their local community who needs some extra help.
The Shared Lives Service needs more households to provide care and is urging people to consider becoming paid carers like the families in this video.
Shared Lives carers can look after a person on a full-time or respite (short stays) basis. The support can continue for as long as it remains the best option for the person and the carer is willing to provide it.
Alternatively a Shared Lives carer could offer day support sessions, using their home as the base for that support. Within a household one or more adults over 18 years of age can be registered as carers – this might include couples, friends or multi-generation households working together to support a person.
Shared Lives gives the flexibility for carers to maintain other jobs, care for children or other family members and take on support that fits around their lives – the aim of the scheme is that the person being supported is included in a normal family life.
The amount our carers earn depends on the needs of the person they support and there are several elements to their fees, some examples include:
Full-time – core fee of £357 - £765 per week
Respite – up to £154.80 per respite stay
Councillor Alison Born, cabinet member for Adult Services, said: “We have some amazing Shared Lives carers in Bath & North East Somerset who provide care in a role that has great flexibility and working hours that fit around their own family commitments. About half of our carers maintain another role in addition to the income they get as a Shared Lives carer.
“One of our Shared Lives carers stepped in to provide support to a client whose main carer had passed away. The client had been going through an incredibly distressing time and the carer provided a stable, caring environment for that person.
“You don’t need qualifications just the willingness to share some of your life with others and provide care and support. Please get in touch if you want to find out more about this unique scheme.”
The service is provided to any person over 16 years of age who has eligible needs – such as a learning disability, autism, mental health or physical health problems.
Carers are eligible for significant tax incentives due to the usage of their home as a venue for care and support.
Anyone who wants to help a person in your local area, and is willing to share their home and include the person in their family life and want to know more about how the service can help them do that please get in touch.
To learn more about Shared Lives, go to https://bathneshealthandcare.nhs.uk/learning-disabilities/shared-lives-…
ENDS
Pictured is a B&NES shared lives carer helping make a difference to a young person’s life.
Notes to editors
- Shared Lives is unique model of support within adult care.
- Shared Lives carers use their home as a resource, welcoming clients into their household.
- Shared Lives carers are self-employed, working from home and deciding which clients they are happy to work with.
- Shared Lives is a registered service with CQC.
- Households are assessed for suitability and the process is ratified by an independent panel.
- Shared Lives carers often maintain other roles (paid or voluntary), have children or caring responsibility for adult family members and generally have busy lives!
- Shared Lives carer households can be one or more carers, often several family members and friends of the family may be registered with the scheme.
- Every adult who lives in the home has to agree to it being used for Shared Lives purposes.
- Shared Lives households can only support up to 3 clients at any one time – this is a limit set by Shared Lives Plus.
- Shared Lives Plus is the national organisation overseeing Shared Lives schemes and best-practice.
- The scheme offers training, continuous support, monitoring and bespoke matching of clients to carers.