Social Care Awards 2021

GHP / Social Care Awards 2021 19 , With the current global climate making their services more vital than ever, Independent Living is amental health support service committed to providing first class care to its clients. Independent Living West Country is a company dedicated to helping its clients manage, live with, and recover from mental health conditions. Operating throughout Devon and founded in 2018 when the charity MIND closed in the region, its sole aim is to provide healing and support for its clients. It works to help a client reorder their life so that they can still live it to the fullest despite the challenges their mental health may try and put in their way. A customer-first business, it assists its service users on a path to independence with its in-home care packages that range from one to six hours per day. Its services are comprehensive, empathetic, and understanding, covering everything from washing up and cleaning assistance to shopping, mail, and paperwork management. The Mental Health Service Supporting Independence Dec20343 Its team are all CQC trained and seek to create an environment of friendship and confidence with personable support. Its client base are over 18s, including those in their 80s or over, and its staff have the training with which to support sufferers of schizophrenia, anxiety, ADHD, depression, PTSD, bipolar conditions, obsessive compulsive disorders, dementia and a range of other mental health conditions. Furthermore, it works with the County Council Support Workers to tailor its packages to the individual. It also includes in its clientele several private individuals who self-refer. Independent Living works hard to provide for its clients from the moment they leave formal care through to the point where they feel confident enough to stand on their own. Of course, for some people, full independence is impossible – in these cases, Independent Living creates an environment that gives them room to develop their self- sufficiency, whilst reassuring them that the support network is still there for them. In terms of strategy, it utilises a methodology of health promotion and poor health prevention. In this way, it will assist clients in their own homes and to their own schedules, giving them a friendly and familiar face in the support worker they are assigned. This person comes to understand the individual they work with on a deep and meaningful level, learning how best to help them and being there for the client on the hard days as well as the good. Its methods are developed to reduce the frequency and likelihood of the client reaching a point of crisis where they may be at risk. As well as management of these risk factors, it has a focus on providing a consistent and reliable touchstone to aid positive transformation and growth, fostering an attitude of hope. Its work with the Council and its Support Workers means that its work bolsters the effectiveness of this service, boosting the mental health support system in the UK across the board. It also provides support for those struggling with gender identity and sexuality. In this way, its services fill the gaps that prior to its founding it saw patients fall through in the mental health service. Too often, once a patient has been discharged from mainstream care, they are forgotten from the system, which is sometimes when they are at their most vulnerable. Independent Living wishes to bridge this gap between discharge and recovery. During the pandemic, it saw an increased demand on its services due to increased cultural anxiety and the shared trauma inflicted by Covid-19. In March 2020, it served 50 individuals, but by January of 2021, that figure had reached 178, providing over 1,100 hours of care a week. Independent Living responded by increasing its staff by 35%, and planning to expand into East Cornwall, where it has identified a distinct lack of mental health services. Independent Living’s long-term goal is to continue to further expand its reach. It is looking into being able to provide mental health support services across the entirety of the South West within the upcoming five years. In the short term, however, it will be growing its presence in its home county of Devon – specifically to the North – and begin to offer its planned services in Cornwall later in 2021. It is also planning to set up a Respite home called the Safe Haven, which will be a dedicated establishment providing clients a safe and friendly environment. In this way, it seeks to reduce the number of clients being admitted into hospital by providing an alternative in short term away- from-home care. Company: Independent Living West Country Contact: Marie Tolly W: www.independentlivingsw.co.uk