Supported living
Supported living is accommodation with extra support for people with eligible adult social care needs. It provides more opportunities for independence and choice compared to residential care. You would have a tenancy agreement for the accommodation and choose a support provider.
This service would encourage you to gain or maintain as much independence as possible. Support can involve prompting or enabling you to carry out activities such as:
- household tasks including laundry, budgeting, food shopping, cleaning, cooking
- developing social skills and maintaining relationships
- accessing employment, volunteering or other community groups
- accessing the community through travelling with support or independently, including planning travel
- tasks related to your health, support and benefits including contacting other agencies, doctors, landlord
- taking medicine as prescribed by health professionals
- maintaining safety and security and preparing for any emergencies
- trying new activities and encouraging independence
Support plans are individualised to ensure that your needs are supported adequately.
Support is described as ‘onsite’ or ‘floating’. Onsite support is provided by a provider who is onsite (usually working out of a staff office) and provides individual support. Floating support is provided by workers who arrives at the property to supply individual hours.
There are many different types of supported living accommodation, these include:
- Self-contained flats with shared access to a communal space and onsite support, in addition to individual support. These schemes can have provision for daytime only support, sleep-in support or waking night support
- Self-contained flats with individual floating support that are stand alone, in a cluster or near a scheme with onsite support
- A shared house with communal facilities, onsite and/or individual floating support.