This week is Shared Lives week (15-23 October 2016), when we celebrate the thousands of Shared Lives carers sharing their homes and family lives with older and disabled people who need some care and/or support around the UK.

At Shared Lives Plus, we’ve been fortunate to work with Nesta and Big Lottery Fund to receive a grant from the Accelerating Ideas programme. With this grant, we’re intending to take what we’ve learnt in England over the last few years to scale the Shared Lives model in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Shared Lives is a model of care and/or support based on sharing home and family life. Shared Lives carers are recruited, assessed, trained and approved by a local regulated scheme and then matched with a person who needs care and support. That might be a person with a learning disability, mental ill health or an older person – it could be anyone needing care and support. That person then either moves in to live with the Shared Lives carer as part of their family, or visits them regularly for support during the day or short breaks.

Eric had rented a room from a friend for many years. His friend provided some informal care and friendship following his diagnosis of dementia, as well as a place to live. When his friend became unwell, Eric was introduced to Shared Lives carers Pete and Sam, visited them at home several times and spent a night with them before deciding that he wanted to move in and live as part of their family.

Pete and Sam have supported Eric to visit the dentist for the first time in years, and he now has new teeth; visit the optician for new glasses, greatly improving his mobility; register with a new GP; and regain his independence with a number of personal care tasks. Eric was also supported to visit his friend regularly and attend her funeral when she died. 

In England, we’re mid-way through an ambitious programme to double the number of people using Shared Lives over five years. We’re currently on track with this, seeing year-on-year growth across the sector, despite the pressures within social care. This is due to the work we’re doing on the ground with the 125 Shared Lives schemes and commissioners to raise awareness of the Shared Lives model and support the development and diversification of the sector. 

However, Scotland and Northern Ireland are not yet at this point. In Scotland, Shared Lives is available in just 50% of health and social care partnership areas, while in Northern Ireland there are just four schemes that work solely with people with learning disabilities. Shared Lives is starting to take off in Wales where we have Welsh Assembly Government Funding to develop and there is now a scheme in every local authority area.

We’ve seen the benefits that Shared Lives can bring for older people – reducing social isolation and loneliness, promoting independence, choice and control, providing emotional support and increased wellbeing (PSSRU 2016). We also know that Shared Lives can provide great support for family carers, reducing stress and likelihood of a carer breakdown (TSIP 2016). Our goal is that Shared Lives becomes a choice for all older and disabled people when they are choosing how they want to receive their care and/or support, wherever they live in the UK.

We’re delighted to have our first ever post in Northern Ireland funded through this programme. Frank Johnston has just joined Shared Lives Plus as our Development Manager and will support the existing Shared Lives schemes while also working with the health trusts to develop Shared Lives as an option for older people in Northern Ireland. Ben Hall will join us in Scotland in November to do the same – working with health and social care partnerships to further develop and diversify the sector.

These are exciting times for Shared Lives; we know this is a model that works and gives people the opportunity to live a ‘good life’ doing the things that most of us take for granted, surrounded by people who love and care for us. Social care across the UK is at breaking point as demand rises and budgets shrink, but Shared Lives is one of the solutions to this problem, bringing good quality, personalised care and providing considerable value for money when compared with the alternatives.

Photo credit: Shared Lives Plus, Paula and Ian - Newham Shared Lives scheme