From 2015 -2018, the LGA facilitated the national Transforming Care empowerment steering group. Members were experts by experience with experience of long stays in hospital. This group led the work around the empowerment of people and their families. We continue to host this on the LGA website as there is learning that can be drawn from their work even today.
Empowerment films and what empowerment means to me
The film below is an introduction to the Transforming Care programme.
Members of the group are now living good lives in the community and have worked together to develop a film about what being empowered means to them. Here are their stories.
Phill gives his perspective of Josh's move home to Cornwall. In the film Phill describes how the whole family has been empowered as a result of the good support that Josh is getting in the community.
Lucy and her Mum describe how Lucy has been empowered to live the life she wants, including through choosing her own home and her own staff team, and learning to travel independently.
Peter talks about being empowered to live the life he wants, including through choosing his own home and décor, looking after his pets and being able to get out and about when he wants to.
Derek talks about the importance of having the right support around him so that he can live independently and stay safe and well. He is empowered to live the life he wants and has a job that he enjoys and opportunities to learn new skills.
Jason talks about his role as a self-advocate and the importance of people with a learning disability being empowered to have a voice. He talks about being able to do the things that he likes to do and feels proud of his achievements.
The So What, What Next? project was designed by the Transforming Care empowerment steering group to look at ways of supporting people with a learning disability or autistic people who have recently been discharged from hospital to explore their skills and passions and to find ways to contribute these to their local communities. The focus was on supporting people to use their strengths, become active citizens and to grow their independence. You can read the project report here, including ‘top tips’ for professionals and supporters.
Work undertaken by the ‘So what, what next’ project (concluded 2018)
The ‘So what, what next’ project report shares learning from a piece of work looking at the skills and passions of people who were leaving hospital and working with Community Catalysts to help people connect back to their communities.
