Shared Lives Scheme

As a Shared Lives carer, you'll build a close connection with the people you support, and they'll become part of your home and family life.

While people who join the Shared Lives scheme are keen to maintain their independence wherever possible, they will have support and/or care needs that you'll need to support.

Who you'll support

You may support one, two or a maximum of three people at a time. People staying with or moving in with Shared Lives carers may have:

• A learning disability
• A physical disability
• Autism
• A mental health condition
• Dementia

You'll be carefully matched with each person based on your strengths, experiences and interests.

What you'll do

Your role, as a Shared Lives carer, is to help the person you support to live as independently as possible, and become a valued part of your family unit.

You'll share your experience and skills to help them:

• Look after themselves and keep healthy and active
• Take part in daily living tasks, such as cooking, cleaning and gardening
• Learn new skills, and engage in hobbies and activities
• Meet people and expand their social network
• Manage their money and learn other life skills

By just being yourself, in your own home and inviting the person into your life, you can:

• Provide the emotional support and companionship they need
• Widen their social network by introducing them to family members (outside your home) and other people in your community
• Open them up to new or different experiences by including them in your family celebrations like birthdays and weddings, or family outings such as picnics or nights out
• Offer them a more personal, high level of care and service that they may not experience in traditional forms of care

Support someone for the day

As a Shared Days carer you can support someone during the day for an agreed amount of time - to do things they enjoy or want to achieve. This can be out and about as well as in your home. Sometimes Shared Days carers support one person at a time, or two or three people at once who build up a friendship group, maybe once or twice a week. You can all have fun and share your interests together.

Some people would want your support to build independence skills like travel training, cooking, managing money. Often people who start off being a Shared Days carer really enjoy it and then decide they want to do more.

You might be matched with:

• An older person whose family or partner need a regular break during the day, secure in the knowledge that their cared for person or partner is happy spending time with you in and from a familiar, comfortable home environment.
• A younger disabled adult who lives at home with family and who would benefit from your support to develop independence skills like learning to prepare meals, finding their way around their community, budgeting their money.

You can offer half day sessions of up to 3 hours or whole day sessions of up to 6 hours, the timings of which would be agreed between you and the person you support. This will form part of the arrangement agreement along with the aims of the support and how any expenses will be covered.

You can choose to offer as many days a week that can be funded and that work for you and the people with whom you are matched.