Be Heard: Don't let them cut service funding!
The Government is preparing to make cuts on the services to the community and has quietly advertised some questionnaires regarding peoples views on the roles and values of these services to better decide on how and where to make these cuts.
At Be Heard you can find a number of different questionnaires on different areas. The one of interest for me that came to my attention today is the Questionnaire for Adults and Communities.
What is worrying is that these questionnaires were not widely known about nor advertised effectively to get the best coverage, which may be suitable for their agenda if they want to make cuts to services that people would normally make an uproar about if they knew about there risk posed against it...
The deadline is this Friday so try to pass this around as much as possible and let people fill this out, whether service users, friends or family of services users or even workers within the system. This is something that effects us all in some way, or will eventually.
At Be Heard you can find a number of different questionnaires on different areas. The one of interest for me that came to my attention today is the Questionnaire for Adults and Communities.
What is worrying is that these questionnaires were not widely known about nor advertised effectively to get the best coverage, which may be suitable for their agenda if they want to make cuts to services that people would normally make an uproar about if they knew about there risk posed against it...
The deadline is this Friday so try to pass this around as much as possible and let people fill this out, whether service users, friends or family of services users or even workers within the system. This is something that effects us all in some way, or will eventually.
This made me consider this years World Mental Health Day's theme of Mental Health and Older People. Not only are older people suffering with the cold and loneliness, as well as poor mental health. They are also often left in family homes after all of their children have outgrown their home and are facing bedroom tax of the need of moving into unfamiliar housing to be able to afford to live.
This alone is frightening and scary and can effect ones state of mental well-being.
Then the government are suggesting cuts to things like support services and suggesting we rely on our community and neighbours, many of which we will not know because either they're moving to down size, or we've just moved for that very reason.
So you have this elderly person, cold, maybe widowed, generally isolated and with likely mobility issues and social restrictions. Their support services being cut and being told to rely of neighbours who will be effectively taken away from them as they're told to move away from home!
Is this how we take care of the mental health of our elders? It seems like the government are favouring the option of opting to reduce paid work and rely on 'volunteer' work which realistically isn't available.
Please share your thoughts by filling out the form and let them know making cuts is NOT the answer, and it isn't going to 'encourage independence' as they like to suggest!
This alone is frightening and scary and can effect ones state of mental well-being.
Then the government are suggesting cuts to things like support services and suggesting we rely on our community and neighbours, many of which we will not know because either they're moving to down size, or we've just moved for that very reason.
So you have this elderly person, cold, maybe widowed, generally isolated and with likely mobility issues and social restrictions. Their support services being cut and being told to rely of neighbours who will be effectively taken away from them as they're told to move away from home!
Is this how we take care of the mental health of our elders? It seems like the government are favouring the option of opting to reduce paid work and rely on 'volunteer' work which realistically isn't available.
Please share your thoughts by filling out the form and let them know making cuts is NOT the answer, and it isn't going to 'encourage independence' as they like to suggest!
Adapting the questions on the survey to support workers
(provided by a support worker charity for clients to aid filling the form)
Question 3: Do we reduce the reliance on residential care? What are your thoughts?
This question doesn't relate to support workers, but ask yourself if you were to need residential care in the future how you would feel if it weren't available to you?
Question 4: Can my community support me to live in my own home? What are your thoughts?
This question is most relevant to support worker services and is the most important to them as a result. In this situation proposed by the questionnaire, only the community would be able to offer support and the support worker will not be present at all. Use this box to gather your thoughts on how you'd feel you interact with your neighbours and the community around yourself. Do you feel they would be able to offer the support that you currently receive from your support workers. Make clear that you know your community would not be able to offer the kind of focused, 1-on-1 support received from support worker, and that it'd be expected for the individual to integrate this into their own lives, so they will not be able to carry you the same activities that they currently do with their support worker.
Also consider if you have any negative experiences with your neighbours and community. Ultimately, use this box for the client to explain how important the support worker is to you and how invaluable the service that is provided is, and that the community could not realistically replace all of this. Try to include personal examples if possible.
Question 5: Can my community support vulnerable younger adults to live a community life?
Use this as a continuation from Q4.
Question 6: Do our Social Workers need to work differently?
In this questions, they seem to be suggesting that social workers should be fulfilling the role of support workers. Consider if you believe, realistically, that the workload of the social workers should enable them to do the role of a support worker as well as what they are already doing. IN the questionnaire where it gives a description of what they would like social workers to be doing, do you feel that that a support worker is already doing this/ As a support worker you have the time to create personalised support plans, whereas social workers would not have the time or resources to do so.
Question 7: Do you have any examples from your own experiences of problems that could be solved by joining up our services better?
This question is designed to get you to talk about the problems you see in the service as it is now, and to pick holes in the support you're currently receiving. hat would be better, is to suggest the problems you believe you'd have to face if you were to lose the support that you're currently receiving, showing them how valuable the service really is.
(provided by a support worker charity for clients to aid filling the form)
Question 3: Do we reduce the reliance on residential care? What are your thoughts?
This question doesn't relate to support workers, but ask yourself if you were to need residential care in the future how you would feel if it weren't available to you?
Question 4: Can my community support me to live in my own home? What are your thoughts?
This question is most relevant to support worker services and is the most important to them as a result. In this situation proposed by the questionnaire, only the community would be able to offer support and the support worker will not be present at all. Use this box to gather your thoughts on how you'd feel you interact with your neighbours and the community around yourself. Do you feel they would be able to offer the support that you currently receive from your support workers. Make clear that you know your community would not be able to offer the kind of focused, 1-on-1 support received from support worker, and that it'd be expected for the individual to integrate this into their own lives, so they will not be able to carry you the same activities that they currently do with their support worker.
Also consider if you have any negative experiences with your neighbours and community. Ultimately, use this box for the client to explain how important the support worker is to you and how invaluable the service that is provided is, and that the community could not realistically replace all of this. Try to include personal examples if possible.
Question 5: Can my community support vulnerable younger adults to live a community life?
Use this as a continuation from Q4.
Question 6: Do our Social Workers need to work differently?
In this questions, they seem to be suggesting that social workers should be fulfilling the role of support workers. Consider if you believe, realistically, that the workload of the social workers should enable them to do the role of a support worker as well as what they are already doing. IN the questionnaire where it gives a description of what they would like social workers to be doing, do you feel that that a support worker is already doing this/ As a support worker you have the time to create personalised support plans, whereas social workers would not have the time or resources to do so.
Question 7: Do you have any examples from your own experiences of problems that could be solved by joining up our services better?
This question is designed to get you to talk about the problems you see in the service as it is now, and to pick holes in the support you're currently receiving. hat would be better, is to suggest the problems you believe you'd have to face if you were to lose the support that you're currently receiving, showing them how valuable the service really is.