New Types of Worker - Ask the Family
Ask the Family
Context/Background
In Control, was at the forefront of developing the system of Self-Directed Support.
'Ask the Family' came out of In Control as a project designed to focus on family carers.
The Aims and Objectives of the Activity
The primary aim was to have family members' knowledge and experience recognised as an essential part of the training and development of the staff who work with people using self directed support.
We aimed to support knowledgeable, experienced family carers to develop public speaking skills, so they could be effective trainers, i.e. paid experts.
We hoped to improve the potential for 'cross sector' working.
We also aimed to provide social care professionals with a clear understanding of what it is like for families to go through the process of obtaining an individual budget/services.
We wished to share knowledge and experience in a way that is valid and can influence good practice.
The Plan
We planned to deliver two sessions in different authorities.
We planned to measure the change/impact the sessions had on perceptions and practice.
What Happened
A group of families who are interested in becoming trainers and who have much experience of self directed support volunteered for training. We held two initial meeting with them, and two training days. Eight family carers were trained.
Two sessions were delivered, one in North and one South Tyneside, both by invitation. For each session the family carer, the person cared for and one personal assistant attended and contributed.
Both sessions were evaluated
What was Achieved
Family carers improved their presentation skills and continued on their journey to set up a social enterprise, which is now established.
Both sessions were successful and feedback suggests views were positively changed re - 1) the benefits of self directed support, 2) the potential for people to move from residential care to the community, and 3) the ability of family carers to contribute positively to such change.
What Helped and What Hindered
Helped - having enthusiastic and articulate families who are experienced and have become experts in their area.
Finding a very good trainer to help them improve their presentation skills
Finding local authorities that are open to new ways of learning
The personal assistant supporting one of the people being cared for brought added value as she was able and willing and to answer questions about her role, too.
Hindered - budget from Skills for Care was less than that requested, and other money was not found at that point. This meant that the potential to undertake a larger sample over a longer period was diminished.
The group of families, in setting themselves up as a social enterprise, went through a difficult process of becoming 'more businesslike', i.e. supporting each other to play to strengths and avoid people doing things they enjoy but are not good at. This was a challenging process for all involved and meant one family did both sessions for 'Ask the family'.
For the first session we found our method of gaining views before the session was not effective. As a result we gained good quality feedback afterwards but could not compare it to views beforehand (this made it impossible to compare impact- i.e. before and after views). We rectified this for the second session.
A third session was planned and a different family carer had undertaken much preparation but it had to be cancelled at short notice due to commitments elsewhere from senior management.
What We Found Out
For evaluation and examples of comments from family members and staff attending the sessions, click on link: 'Ask the Family' Evaluation
What New or Changed Skills do People Need to Work in This Way?
For family members and personal assistants to be able to deliver this type of training they need:
- Good communication and well developed presentation skills
- IT skills e.g. to produce PowerPoint presentations
- Confident negotiating skills re fees etc
- A rounded knowledge of their subject matter - i.e. a good deal of real experience of their subject
The Future
The group of families involved are now managing their own social enterprise.
Both authorities are expected to purchase further training days from the family carers.
The personal assistant involved in the sessions (a default contributor to the sessions) is likely to be offered the opportunity to contribute to training sessions for personal assistants in the future.
Contact details
Jane Ahern
07956465204
jane.ahern@in-control.org.uk
