Meet Angie….she’s been an Occupational Therapist (OT) for 30 years, working in NHS and (more recently), independent OT roles to support people with developing and maintaining their independence and well-being.
Angie Carter is a registered Occupational Therapist; and also an Accredited Support Broker with the Support Brokerage Network
The introduction of Personalisation within the Health and Social Care sector made absolute sense for Angie and resonated with her value base and skill set as an Occupational Therapist.
Angie began to explore ways of helping people to take control of their own lives within her work as an OT; and her exploration led her to reading about the concept of Independent Support Brokerage. She began to recognise that her formal OT approach fitted more with the ‘Professional Gift model’, than the ‘Citizenship model’ (which was the approach followed within Independent Support Brokerage). Angie completed her training with Imagineer as an Independent Support Broker, and she joined the Support Brokerage Network (formerly known as National Brokerage Network), which is a community of practice for Independent Support Brokers and organisations who implement the values and approaches of Independent Support Brokerage within their work.
Angie is now part of the Support Brokerage Network, and has written a detailed article about her own individual journey in becoming a Support Broker; in particular- the story of one young man whom she has worked alongside to Self Direct his own support. Angie now uses her professional skill set as an OT combined with the skills and approaches of Independent Support Brokerage to offer personalised, bespoke and enabling solutions and ideas for people to lead their lives in a way that truly makes sense for them:
You can read Angie’s full article here.
You can view Angie’s Support Broker profile here.
You can read more about Support Brokerage here.
If you’re interested in the work of Imagineer; and would like more information about what we do and how to get involved, you can sign up for our mailing list & monthly newsletter here.
Here, Peter shares some of his story about caring for his young adult son who has Profound Mental and Physical Disabilities.
He is now 20 years old with profound mental and physical disabilities. He needs 24/7 care, 2:1 during the day with a sleeping shift over night
Actually very little, but only because we have fought to get a Personal Health Budget (PHB) which has transformed the lives of the whole family. It is hard to manage and administer – but worth it.
As above, we now have time breaks. I am now a PhD student looking into PHBs
PHBs are great, but there is no support for you run them. This support is what is needed.
At Imagineer, we work alongside unpaid family carers in many different ways; but one of the key ways that we can assist is by providing Support Brokerage.
If you are interested in receiving assistance from one of our Support Brokers, please contact us: info@imagineer.org.uk to request a call-back for an informal discussion, or a referral form.
For more information about Carers Week 2021, visit: Carersweek.org
Here, Sarah shares some of her story about caring for her young adult daughter who is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
I care for my daughter who is now 20 , she needs help with daily social/ living skills. She has Autism Spectrum Disorder (late diagnosis 3 years ago), and has had a huge mental health crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in her having to be hospitalised. She has had the most horrendous year and has been traumatised because of it (as have we her family) .
As a result, she now needs help on a daily basis. Her daily needs include: Daily living & independence skills, needing to be heard in a trusted relationship, feeling safe enough to show her need and managing new and different situations (which is very hard for her). She is building trust in her PAs and has other key supports in her church, family and a small number of trusted professionals.
She is an amazing, funny, intelligent person who is working very hard to understand herself and manage life. I am very proud of her journey.
Currently, we are provided 25 hrs of care per week (2-1) and apart from times when she is in appointments, I am her sole carer and am available 24/7 the rest of the time. Sometimes she needs me in the night as she still gets recurring dreams of her time this past year when she stayed in a mental health hospital avoidance unit. Now at home, we can only have care at the times when the agency are able to provide staffing- not always at times when we need it.
Currently, even though we have scheduled care in the family home, I often still need to be available for crisis support.
When it’s a good day, I love to meet friends, go out for meals, do craft etc.
I would love to see family and friends that live at a distance. I love to go to church and volunteer to do activities.
When things open up more theatre is great to visit.
As a carer I have had to tackle a wide variety of issues by personal research and enquiry. It has felt that on each occasion I have had to gain skills in unfamiliar areas when there should be information available.
For example : education (EHC) tribunal, legal action, safeguarding, mental health, social care, etc.
It would be helpful if there was a source for all these challenges in one place so you don’t feel like you’re alone and reinventing the wheel each time. Peer to peer advice would also be helpful.
Professional help seems there for the client but the carer may be traumatised, in need of support eg counselling etc , and are expected to continue until breakdown. Carer hubs seem to deal with a limited range of basic support. Independent support for carers in the form of a budget for counselling/ advice, etc would help prevent breakdown of care in the home.
At Imagineer, we work alongside unpaid family carers in many different ways; but one of the key ways that we can assist is by providing Support Brokerage.
If you are interested in receiving assistance from one of our Support Brokers, please contact us: info@imagineer.org.uk to request a call-back for an informal discussion, or a referral form.
For more information about Carers Week 2021, visit: Carersweek.org
When we’re delivering training or webinars about Support Brokerage we often explain it using the analogy of a car and a journey.
The car represents a person’s life. The person is the driver of their own car. This represents the core principle of Support Brokerage, which is that the person is in the driving seat.
In other words, as Support Brokers- in all of our practice and interactions we are continuously revisiting the principle that the person we are working alongside is taking the lead in making decisions about their life- where they want to be going, what they want to be doing, how they want to be supported and who will be involved. This is a core principle of Self-Directed Support.
Now to continue with our analogy, all cars need fuel for the journey.
Some people need assistance with putting ‘fuel’ in their car. This is where the Support Broker can become involved. Support Brokers are multi-skilled individuals who come from a range of different backgrounds. They have knowledge and experience which they can bring to assist the person they work alongside. Support Brokers can be people with lived experience, people who have worked in the Social care sector, Health professionals, Housing professionals or Community/Third sector workers. The Support Broker brings their range of skills, experience and knowledge, and uses this to assist the person with adding ‘fuel’ into their car. The ‘fuel’ we see in the image is referencing a range of different ‘strengths-based’ approaches which a Support Broker can lean into as they are working alongside the person to assist them with achieving their objectives.
The term ‘Support Broker’ is neither a job title, nor a job description, because the tasks which a Support Broker carries out will vary with each person they work with. Remember that the person is in the driving seat, and they will determine the remit and involvement of the Support Broker.
Now that the fuel has been added to the car, it is ready for the journey.
Remember, the person is in the driving seat. Once they have fuel in their car, they may decide that they need no further assistance from the Support Broker and decide to continue the rest of their journey independently. However, they may require some support to plan their journey and/or navigate the various destinations. In the image below, you will see that there is a passenger in the rear seat of the car. This is the Support Broker, who is holding a map and calling out directions- all the time acknowledging that the person is still in the driving seat and they are in control of the journey. At any point, the person could ask their Support Broker passenger to get out of the car!
For some people, they may have multiple ‘passengers’ in their car- these may be close family members or friends & members of their local community who are very involved in the person’s life; alongside the Support Broker who is also a passenger. We sometimes refer to this (or formalise this arrangement) as a ‘circle of support’. The principle of ‘passengers’ and the person in the driving seat still applies.
The journey of Support Brokerage may include visiting one or more destinations which help to bring the person closer to achieving their objectives. These include the ‘keys to citizenship’ of: Life, Love, Help, Purpose, Money, Home and Freedom.
The Support Broker may be tasked with carrying out specific actions as part of this journey, which could include person-centred planning, support with navigating the social care or health assessment process, identifying resources which help to achieve the person’s objectives and developing a support plan. The range of tasks is broad and should not be defined as an exhaustive list.
As with any journey, the longer we spend in the car and in the driving seat; the more confident we become and the more skilled and experienced we become at driving the car. This is also true of the input of a Support Broker. As the person becomes more confident and skilled at advocating for themselves, knowing and understanding their rights and being able to take the lead in discussions about their own support, the Support Broker is able to step back with the aim of not being needed at all in the end. For some people, it may be that they will always need some element of involvement from their Support Broker, but this should never be assumed and should regularly be revisited as a conversation with the person about how they feel things are going and how confident they feel about doing things independently.
Imagineer offers a range of training & mentoring services to support the knowledge and practice development of practitioners; and also to help people to know and understand their rights. Our next Support Brokerage course is running in February 2020. Consider signing up for our ‘Quick bite for lunch’ webinars which explore practical ideas taken from Independent Support Brokerage. These practical approaches can be embedded within your practice. We are also planning a series of ‘Deep Dive’ webinars for the new year, which will be advertised on the ‘Webinars’ page of our website.
You can also subscribe to our mailing list if you would like to be kept up to date with what we’re doing.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for on our website, please send us an email: info@imagineer.org.uk
Liz Leach Murphy is the Founder of Imagineer Development UK CIC, Chair of the National Brokerage Network and a Freelance Consultant working on personalisation within the Health and Social Care sector/community space.
Sarah Holmes is a Freelance Consultant working on personalisation within the Health and Social Care sector/community space; and a Director of Imagineer Development UK CIC
Both Liz and Sarah are practitioners, trainers and coaches in Independent Support Brokerage and consultancy for Strengths-Based Approaches with collectively over 40 years of experience in the Health and Social care and community sectors.
Imagineer Development UK CIC is a social enterprise based in the North of England with a national reach; originally set up as a test bed for Independent Support Brokerage in the UK. Imagineer is the hosting organisation for the National Brokerage Network, which is a community of practice for Independent Support Brokers. Imagineer provides a range of training & consultancy services in Support Brokerage, Person-Centred and Strengths-Based Approaches.
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Leaders and decision-makers within the health and social care sector generally grasp (and subscribe to) the concept of Personalisation and Self-Directed Support; but often feel ‘stuck’ in relation to the systems, structures and processes that they are required to work within.
Having a simple lens by which to review policy and practice could be a catalyst for real and lasting change.
Let’s explore this in a little more detail.
Independent Support Brokerage is an approach which strongly aligns with the theory of self-determination and was first developed by families of people with complex needs, called the Woodlands Parents’ Group in British Columbia, Canada in the 1970s.
When the person is in the driving seat of their own life, amazing things can happen; and solutions and opportunities can be discovered which were not even considered through the narrow lens of commissioned provider services and statutory provision from Health and Social Care. Elements of Support Brokerage exist in many different models and approaches, but authentic and truly Independent Support Brokerage is rooted in a wide range of Person-Centred Practice and Strengths-Based Approaches such as:
Some of the barriers and challenges presented by the current Health and Social Care system include:
Our experience as practitioners of Independent Support Brokerage has shown that many of these barriers and challenges can be overcome when the following conditions are present:
The mechanisms and legal structures enabling these conditions to be present already exist, and it is happening in small pockets around the UK.
So why isn’t it happening everywhere? There is a growing groundswell of momentum towards the radical transformation of the welfare state. The Health and Social Care sector forms one part of the puzzle. There are many refrains of ‘Coproduction’, ‘Personalisation’, ‘Strengths-Based Approaches’ and ‘community development’ being sung by different groups wanting to see change. If we gather our voices together collectively and sing as a choir; we could weave our harmonies together to create a symphony of citizenship, inclusion and equal rights for all.
Do you want to join the chorus?
We are in the process of developing a set of quality standards which map across to other aligned quality standards and outcomes indicators for the health and social care sector. Visit our website: https://www.imagineer.org.uk// to sign up for updates; and read our latest paper: ‘What does ‘good’ look like? to find out more.
About us:
Liz Leach Murphy is the Founder of Imagineer Development UK CIC, Chair of the National Brokerage Network and a Freelance Consultant working on personalisation within the Health and Social Care sector/community space.
Sarah Holmes is a Freelance Consultant working on personalisation within the Health and Social Care sector/community space; and a Director of Imagineer Development UK CIC
Both Liz and Sarah are practitioners, trainers and coaches in Independent Support Brokerage and consultancy for Strengths-Based Approaches with collectively over 40 years of experience in the Health and Social care and community sectors.
Imagineer Development UK CIC is a social enterprise based in the North of England with a national reach; originally set up as a testbed for Independent Support Brokerage in the UK. Imagineer is the hosting organisation for the National Brokerage Network, which is a community of practice for Independent Support Brokers. Imagineer provides a range of training in Support Brokerage, Person-Centred and Strengths-Based Approaches.
Further reading: What does ‘good look like?: https://www.imagineer.org.uk//wp-content/uploads/2020/08/What-does-good-look-like.pdf
Sign up to our mailing list to be kept updated on our work in developing quality standards for Person-Centred practice and Self-Direction: https://www.imagineer.org.uk//
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