Leeds Shared Lives

What is Shared Lives?

Shared Lives is an alternative approach to traditional residential respite and day services. It offers care and support for adults and carers. Trained Shared Lives carers provide short breaks and day support in their own homes, helping people achieve independent and fulfilling lives.

A Shared Lives carer may provide various types of care to adults, including for example: People with physical or sensory impairments; adults with learning disabilities; older people – perhaps with a level of dementia; and people experiencing mental ill health.

Shared Lives also looks to offer support for people transitioning from children’s to adult services; and to cover in emergencies, if a carer is ill; in hospital; or for other domestic crises.

What do people use the service for?

People use the service for various reasons, including to:

  • enjoy a change of scene in a friendly environment
  • meet new people and make friends
  • find new interests and develop skills
  • gain confidence and independence
  • receive support with physical, social, emotional and cultural needs
  • allow their carer a break

Our aim is to provide a positive experience for our customers through a flexible, personalised, community-based service.

Our services include:

Short breaks This provides regular short breaks, emergency cover and some medium term placements to allow carers to take a break from their caring role. Approved Shared Lives carers who have a room to spare in their home can offer flexible, personalised and community based support to the customer on a regular, planned or emergency basis.

Day support opportunities As an alternative, and in addition to short breaks we are able to offer flexible day support in an approved Shared Lives carers home and their local community. This Service offers support to adults and older people who live alone, or with family, to promote access to community activities and promote social inclusion. Day support provides customers with opportunities to develop, learn or re-learn skills; gain confidence and independence; promote well-being and find new interests.

 

 

Am I eligible to be offered a Shared Lives service?Am I eligible to be offered a Shared Lives service?<div class="ExternalClassAC95B9CDF046473C8FF80EDEBDA4D1F5"> <p>You can be offered a service if you are referred to us by a health or social care professional, and:</p><ul class="list list-bullet"><li>you are aged 18 years or older</li><li>you are a resident of Leeds and liable to pay council tax to Leeds City Council</li><li>you require support because of an eligible need</li> <strong>and</strong> <li>you usually live with a family carer or receive substantial support from an informal carer</li> <strong>and</strong> <li>You or your carer need a break</li></ul></div>
How can I access the service?How can I access the service?<div class="ExternalClass1E0EE3EE55DF4EF2B654B7E0D7BCDA23"><p>You can access this service by first discussing your enquiry with your health or social care professional – such as your GP; social worker; support worker; care manager; district nurse; memory nurse; or workers from Carers Leeds; Alzheimer’s Society; or your local Neighbourhood Network team. </p><p>Alternatively, you can call Adult Social Care on <strong>0113 222 4401</strong> (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).</p> <br></div>
What happens next, once I am referred for the service?What happens next, once I am referred for the service?<div class="ExternalClassDBCEEBC0FD824FE2BBE9916FBDBC7740"><p>Once you have been referred and we have a full understanding of what you require, a Shared Lives worker will try to find a suitable Shared Lives carer who can meet your needs. This may take a while and there is a chance that we’ll be unable to match you to a suitable carer, at the time. </p><p>When we find you a suitable match, we will provide you with information about your potential Shared Lives carer. Depending on what your needs are, we may be able to offer you a choice of different carers, in which case you will receive information about all of them.</p><p>If you are interested to meet a potential carer, we will take you to meet them so that you can get to know them in person. Your current carer can come with you too, if you want. The aim of the visit is to give you an opportunity to decide whether you would like to have your Shared Lives service with this matched carer. </p><p>We understand how important it is for you to feel comfortable with a new carer, and that you may need to take your time to make a decision. We will support you in this process and discuss any concerns you may have. We will also discuss the amount of support you receive, which will depend on your needs and your Shared lives carer’s availability.</p> <br></div>
Do I need to pay for this service?Do I need to pay for this service?<div class="ExternalClass9287E5EFD7A34AAAB63E63D4A3C408F7"><p>Shared Lives is a chargeable service under the council’s ‘fairer charging’ policy. You will be asked to complete a financial assessment with the financial benefits team, who will work out if you need to contribute to the cost and if so, how much.</p></div>
Can I become a Shared Lives carer?Can I become a Shared Lives carer?<div class="ExternalClassDCF57BAB8A4348019A08E059D27568E9"><p>We are always interested for people to join our service as a Shared Lives carer. More information is available in our <strong> <a href="/docs/FAQs%20for%20Shared%20Lives%20carers.pdf"> Frequently Asked Questions for Shared Lives Carers (PDF 0.19MB)</a></strong> document.<br></p></div>
How are Shared Lives carers recruited?How are Shared Lives carers recruited?<div class="ExternalClass80544859BDFA4C58AED1EC58B69BB59E"><p>Shared lives carers are recruited from all age groups (over 18) and backgrounds, reflecting the diversity of Leeds. To make sure they are suitable, we complete detailed assessments; reference checks; GP health checks; home environment checks – including fire safety; Disclosure and Barring (DBS) checks; and all carers undertake pre- and post-approval training. You can find more information about this in our <strong><a href="/docs/FAQs%20for%20Shared%20Lives%20carers.pdf"> Frequently Asked Questions for Shared Lives Carers (PDF 0.19MB)</a></strong> document.</p></div>

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