You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Empowering diverse communities to share decisions
By involving those with lived experience, we move beyond assumptions and towards solutions that reflect real needs, writes Emma Bound, head of care and support services at Southern Housing and chair of its specialist advisory forum
Emma Bound is head of care and support services at Southern Housing, and chair of the Specialist Advisory Forum
By involving those with lived experience, we move beyond assumptions and towards solutions that reflect real needs, writes Emma Bound, head of care and support services at Southern Housing and chair of its specialist advisory forum #UKhousingIn a world where no two lives are the same, how can we ensure that everyone – regardless of their support needs or vulnerabilities – has a voice in shaping the services they rely on?
Resident involvement should be inclusive and representative of the diverse people who use these services. However, achieving that isn’t without its challenges.
On the Isle of Wight, we have a variety of homes providing care and support to some of the most vulnerable in our community. These include extra-care schemes, care homes for people with learning disabilities, older people and people with support needs, and homes for individuals and families facing homelessness.
We want to ensure these residents are heard and influence what we do. That is why we’ve created our specialist advisory forum to bring residents from across our services together.
Combining a diverse mix of voices, the forum affords us a comprehensive view of the service we provide. It shifts assumptions, reveals blind spots, and often sparks better solutions. By involving residents directly, we’re not just asking for feedback, we’re handing over the microphone.
It isn’t easy building a resident forum for people with varying support needs, of different ages, backgrounds, cultures and abilities. It is essential though, as without it, we risk creating services that don’t meet residents’ needs.
“Combining a diverse mix of voices, the forum affords us a comprehensive view of the service we provide. It shifts assumptions, reveals blind spots, and often sparks better solutions”
Our forum meets in person, and we always follow a set agenda, which is decided with our residents. Our residents shape the conversation by choosing the topics which matter most to them. Those residents who need it are supported throughout, attending with their support workers, and transport is arranged to make it easy. There’s a relaxed, flexible feel; residents can attend when it suits them.
As this is a wide-ranging group, we’ve worked hard to make sure everyone’s voice is heard. While some people may naturally speak up more, we take time during each meeting to go round the room and engage with everyone, one-to-one if needed.
Sandy, one of the residents who attends, shared why it’s important to her.
“It’s nice to know that Southern Housing is listening. I have dementia, and my memory is failing me now, but I like to be involved and have my voice heard. At the latest forum, we discussed service charges, and they explained how they’re calculated. We give our views on topics, and they help us to understand how things work. I’ve also helped to co-create the magazine and leaflets.”
One of the areas the forum recently wanted to delve into was building safer communities and reducing anti-social behaviour. As part of this ongoing project, we invited our anti-social behaviour and safeguarding teams to host sessions where they explained processes and gave advice.
Our residents sometimes ask tough questions – and that’s a good thing; their challenges help us reflect, be accountable and sometimes change our way of doing things.
“By involving those with lived experience, we move beyond assumptions and towards solutions that reflect real needs”
During the safeguarding session we learned that although we provide a lot of information on this topic, residents don’t always understand the terms we use. We’re committed to keeping our communications jargon-free, and residents told us they didn’t know what ‘cuckooing’ meant. This is used to describe a form of abuse in which criminal gangs or individuals exploit vulnerable people by taking over their homes. We worked with them to create communications around what it is, how to spot the signs and how to raise the alarm.
As part of the work on being better neighbours, the group chose to focus on neurodiverse people and how they can support them. We hosted a session on autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We spoke to some of our neurodiverse residents to hear directly from them. The findings from these interviews were published in our bi-annual newsletter, which the forum plans and reviews. This equipped residents with meaningful ways to support and engage with neurodiverse individuals in their community.
When people feel heard, they feel empowered. By involving those with lived experience, we move beyond assumptions and towards solutions that reflect real needs. This isn’t a box-ticking exercise, it’s a commitment to truly co-created communities. The work is ongoing and we’re still learning.
By continuing to listen, learn and act together, our services will be shaped not only for residents, but with them, just as it should be.
Emma Bound, head of care and support services, and chair, specialist advisory forum, Southern Housing
Sign up for our care and support bulletin
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
Related stories
