November 17, 2016

Holly from Shared Lives Midlands shares a Short Breaks success story…

I left the visit with an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction…”this is what we do it for”’

I’ve been working with a gentleman, Jon, who was referred to the service in June, and his mum, Judith to look at Jon accessing short breaks with a Shared Lives Carer(s).

Jon was referred to us during a family emergency a few months ago. His mum, Judith, had to go onto hospital for an ongoing spinal condition and there was nobody available at home to support Jon during this time. Judith had to arrange a ‘sit in service’ to stay with Jon during the day time, while his sister Pat was involved in ensuring he was safe at night.
Judith, told me that she felt very disappointed that her family were unable to support Jon during this time. She was also feeling very uncomfortable about the whole process of joining Shared Lives and was worried about how Jon would cope with the process. Jon is extremely close to Judith and can become very unsettled and upset when he does not have her to go home to.

Because of this, I knew the match had to be perfect for Shared Lives to work for Jon. I had identified Amrik and Gill (new Carers approved at the end of July) as potential Carers and I shared the profile with Judith and Jon. I explained to Judith that I would do everything I could to make her and Jon feel comfortable and at ease throughout the process and that we would take it at their pace.

Following these conversations with Judith, she contacted me again to say that she had explained the service and the process to Jon in extensive detail and Jon was looking forward to meeting Amrik and Gill!

I arranged an introductory visit for Wednesday 17th August and we all met at Amrik and Gill’s home.
Usually, at an introductory visit, one of the Shared Lives team very much leads the visit, for example we encourage both parties to ask a range of different questions and might even suggest some ourselves. But, at this visit I couldn’t get a word in edge ways! It was very much led by Amrik and Gill – meeting Jon and Judith was their first intro visit and they dived straight in. The conversation flowed so naturally, Amrik and Gill were extremely proactive in making both Jon and Judith feel welcome and asking productive questions that have impacted on the support plan we’d already completed. Before Jon and Judith left, Amrik and Gillian were already planning in the next steps! I left the visit with an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction that “this is what we do it for”.

I popped in to visit Jon and Judith the following Friday just to check in with them both. I had a conversation with Judith and she sang Amrik and Gill’s praises from the roof tops saying: “I felt so at home with them- I think I’d like to stay there instead of Jon!”

Judith told Jon “ive got good news: Amrik and Go;; would like to see you again” . Jon shouted “YES!” with a “get in” arm movement and appeared excited and wanted to know when he will be staying overnight there. Again, I left jon and Judith feel overjoyed. Its so fantastic to know that even after their apprehensive start, they were all smiles knowing that Jon will go on to stay with Amrik and Gill