NSA Graduate Scheme 2013

This week, Insight and the National Skills Academy (NSA) launched Cohort 4 of the Graduate Training Scheme.

NSA received just under 1,000 applications for this year's programme and faced the difficult task of whittling it down to just 22 final delegates.

On monday, we finally got to meet our new Grads, and we're very excited to get the programme underway!

The Grads come from a variety of backgrounds, locations, and specialisms, but are all interested in and passionate about making a difference in Social Care.

We at the Insight Team are looking forward to working with them, and wish them the best of luck over the coming year!

Sports Driving Unlimited

My name is Liza Pern and I have worked with Insight for many years as a Director with responsibility for most admin and website tasks and issues.  I’ve always had a passion for horses and have been involved with a carriage driving centre that specialises in activities for people with disabilities and special needs for nearly 20 years.  During this time I have become increasingly frustrated that we have been unable to secure funding to enable such people to come to the centre and benefit from contact with our very special ponies.

So in 2007 I set up a charity called Sports Driving Unlimited, supported by Insight, which aims to raise funds to enable anyone with a special need to enjoy the fun and therapeutic benefits of carriage driving as a sport and interaction with ponies.  In the past 5 years we have given many individuals the opportunity to try the sport and we hold regular ‘therapy’ sessions for local schools and voluntary groups.  We have a ‘core group’ of drivers with a variety of disabilities who have honed their skills so that they can now compete regularly, often with success in open competition against able bodied drivers.  As you can imagine this brings them a huge boost in their self esteem and confidence!  Some of our winners include a young man with cerebral palsy who won the title of Scottish Indoor Novice Champion 2012 and a young girl with the same condition who won Novice Para-Champion 2012. 

Carriage driving as an activity has great benefits in terms of improving motor skills, concentration, ability to reason, communication and motivation.  Sitting on a carriage builds core strength and the need to develop effective communication in order for the pony to go forward is a great motivator!  All participants are taught how to drive a pony including correct sitting position, rein handling and voice commands to control the speed and direction.  They also experience the practical aspects of caring for a pony, including grooming, leading, harnessing, feeding and carry out practical tasks at each session.  The coaching is tailored to each person’s own abilities and goals and we have special carriages that can accommodate a wheelchair.  Our participants range from 3 to 80 years old, from all walks of life, with a huge range of additional needs.

The charity has just received the award of Dumfries and Galloway Life Charity of the Year 2012 – which we are over the moon about!  This recognises everyone’s hard work and the success of our activities.  We hope it will raise our profile and bring in more much needed funds to the charity’s coffers!

- Liza

Space Inclusive - Good Practice In Practice

For today's blog we hand over the reins to one of the NSA Graduate Scheme Alumni.

Odunola Okeme completed the Graduate Scheme last year. During the course of the programme, Odunola was part of a research group who were looking at innovation in times of austerity and together they produced a strong report and presented their findings to a panel.

One component of this research was a series of case studies; Odunola personally looked into Space Inclusive, and she's here to tell you more:

Specialisation and Micro-enterprise: Space Inclusive

The current economic trends and reduction in Local Authority spending as a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review has led to a push for a competitive market for social care. There is an expectation that organisations will expand and adapt in order to survive. However, research has shown the benefits of maintaining small scale personalised and specialist services within social care.

Space Inclusive, a Micro-enterprise based in Nottingham has approached the current social care climate by providing a specialist and transitional service for young adults (18+) with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.  The organisation works  these young adults, who have a personal budget, with the aim of empowering them to become less dependent on benefits in the future. For each new service user, the long–term capabilities are assessed and a person-centred plan is developed to enable the individual develop the needed skills to realise his/her pre-determined goals within a realistic and achievable time frame. 

Space Inclusive is flexible and dynamic in the way it goes about working with the individual to enable achievement of their goals. It embeds the skills each individual needs to develop into activities such as music, gardening, horse riding, internet surfing, work experience, art work and social interaction events.

 For clients who have been wholly reliant on one to one support at home, the willingness of Space Inclusive to tailor its service provision to suit the needs of its client allows it to provide an intensive support outreach package (in the individual’s home) to begin with. The main aim being to increase the individuals confidence to a level where he/she can begin to access the integrated support in groups of no more than 5 per activity with a staff ratio of 1:2 or 1:3.5. The small group size and staff ratio for each activity means that undivided support is given, and the specific age group makes it easier for the service users to feel comfortable, socialise and build friendships.

 The organisation’s trendy premises, relaxed atmosphere, dedicated staff who are specifically trained to work with its client group and ability to ‘think outside the box’ has proven to be a success with its service users and is fast making Space Inclusive a point of reference among policy makers.

 Space Inclusive has an annual turnover of about £400,000. The organisation is set to open its second branch so as to retain the current standard and quality of its service provision with the increasing number of referrals it is receiving. Furthermore, the organisation’s blend of an initial intensive support with subsequent integrated support to encourage its service users to be less dependent on the service is creating savings for the Local Authority.

Considering the current climate, there are several lessons to be learnt from Space Inclusive's person-centred approach, driven by a genuine desire to see individuals become less service and benefits dependent. For more information visit the organisations website at www.spaceinclusive.co.uk

- Odunola

Check back soon!

From the Insight Team

Good Morning, Blogspot!

Just a quick post to give you all a quick update on our National Skills Academy (NSA) Graduates.

For the last year, we've been delivering the NSA Grads programme and it's been challenging, fast-paced and brilliant fun!

Last week, the Insight Team attended their final graduation ceremony in Covent Garden, London.

The group have set themselves high standards throughout the programme and have never failed to deliver. They've impressed at their placements, conducted original and valuable research projects, promoted best practice and engaged fully with the launch of the new LQF.

From all at the Insight Team, thank you Grads! We've enjoyed working with you this year, and we look forward to seeing the energy and innovation you bring to the workplace benefiting the sector.

The next cohort starts in January - the standards have been set, but Insight feel confident they'll make the cut! We can't wait to meet them and get the next programme underway.

Merry Christmas!

Laura

Learning Disability Today Conference

Last week, John, Terry and myself attended the Learning Disability Today Conference, hosted by Pavilion Publishing.

We've attended the conference for a number of years, and it's always a fantastic opportunity to network, share good practice, learn and identify upcoming topics for the sector.

What makes it such a key date in my diary? The people who come. It's a venue packed full of experts in every sense - from Social Workers, support workers and managers, to politicians, health professionals and service users. Everyone has a valuable contribution to make and a platform to do it.

John particularly enjoyed Home Farm Trust's (Hft) seminar on Assistive Technology. Insight have worked with Hft for a number of years and have been in a privileged position to watch the types and the implementation of technology develop.

Last year, we were 'wow'd' by very personalised, needs-based technologies. In one example, a service user was in danger of losing his job as his refusal to shower was affecting his personal hygiene. HFT designed a 'Disco-Shower' which maximised on the man's love of music to make showering a positive experience - he showered more and kept his job.

This year, HFT have made another revelation:-

Some of the simplest technologies can make the biggest impact, to the largest group of people.

They presented gadgets such as a talking door which delivers a personal message to the individual - "Jennifer, have you got your keys?". Eventually, the service user no longer needs the technology...

Another example was a touchscreen TV which allowed service users to easily select their meal from the options available. HFT work with service users and staff to 'tweak' these technologies to work in a way that is accessible and relevant. Staff reported in this case, that once the service user had grown accustomed to selecting his meals, they realised that the technology could be adapted to support him to make other choices.

Technologies such as this can help to give greater independence. Hft also said that over time, the service user may no longer needs these technology as they learn new ways to cope and communicate!

Key to this is the effect it has on the service user; the sheer volume of benefits that lie beyond the obvious. Service users grow in confidence, they feel empowered, and they suddenly start to engage more with the world around them (And the world replies in a language that works for them!).

Hft say that the technologies they use are increasingly common place and inexpensive! Rather than inventing new technologies Hft are increasingly re-purposing existing ones. This set us thinking:  If these technologies can be used to the benefit of people with Learning Disabilities, why not other people such as those with Dementia or Alzheimers?

Also as the cost of technologies come down, can they play a role in finding new ways to care for vulnerable people at a time when resources are reducing?

Hft certainly believe that this is possible – but Social Care Commissioners will have to rise to the challenge!

Terry took away something very different from this year's conference. We attended the seminar 'Lessons From Winterbourne', and whilst it was a valuable and interesting session, the striking point for Terry came when the panel invited questions and comments from the floor. They were met with a sea of waving hands, and many of them belonged to a person with a learning disability. Sadly several comments were from service users that had suffered abuse - some were reflecting on support they had (or had not) received, whilst some had clearly never gained recognition for what had happened to them.

However, Terry identified a positivity in this difficult session - it struck her that people with a learning disability have finally found their voice!

Terry has a background in social care, particularly in work with people with learning disabilities, and she reflected that even when given space and opportunity, service users would rarely acknowledge or report abuse they were suffering.

Suddenly, now, people are speaking out. They've found the voice to say "This happened to me, and it wasn't ok". This shows a shift in culture; people with a learning disability are beginning to have a sense of real, tangible and usable rights, and are beginning to feel empowered to exercise them.

We need to ensure this change maintains momentum, and that we continue to support service users to feel empowered and capable, to raise their voices, and demand their rights.

I, however, felt something else resonated with me.

In a number of sessions, service users created an opportunity to raise a personal problem - one that wasn't related to the session topic. This felt very different to the strength of the Winterbourne comments - this felt to me like desperation.

Service users were saying that they'd taken the difficulties they were encountering to their GPs, to the hospital, to the police, but didn't feel they were receiving help. Perhaps because these aren't the appropriate bodies to be supporting the types of issues being raised - it falls below their eligibility criteria.

Funding cuts across social care have seen a reduction in smaller, independent, localised services. It's these services that dealt with much of the low need difficulties and provided support. In the absence of these services, individuals are struggling to find an appropriate forum for their concerns, and therefore appropriate support.

The problems escalate.

In desperation, people with learning disabilities are reaching out at times and places, such as the conference, when support is not inbuilt, and people are not properly equipped to help.

"Before I leave here today, in this room full of highly educated professionals, someone, can you please give me an answer?!"

What are we doing to prevent people reaching crisis? Can we afford to only deal in reactive care?

The Learning Disability Today Conference is inspiring, informative and provocative, but the onus is on us, as attendees, to take our thoughts and observations away and act on them. Whilst the conference itself is a culmination of months of work for some, and an ending until the next year, it's really a beginning. Insight will now go back to the drawing board with this new learning and write it into our Social Care Training.

Thank you to the #LDTconf for keeping Insight passionate and informed about Social Care!