My Support, My Choice research #MySupportMyChoice19

My Support, My Choice: User Experiences of Self-directed Support in Scotland is now available to read online, with an Easy Read version available too.   

The ‘My Support My Choice’ survey is now closed. 

The ‘My Support My Choice’ research has its origins in a 2016 pilot study conducted by Self Directed Support Scotland (SDSS) which explored service users’ experiences of Self-directed Support in 3 Local Authority areas in Scotland. In 2019-20 Self Directed Support Scotland (SDSS) and Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) are running a new project entitled ‘My Support My Choice’ which will examine user experiences of Self-directed Support across a range of Local Authority areas, through interviews and a survey for those who are either receiving SDS or have experience of the assessment process in the last 12 months. The key research questions are:

• Are new and re-assessed social care users being given all of the relevant information about options available to them under SDS, and is this done in a way that is supportive and accessible?  

• Are people aware of and able to access advice and support from other agencies to help them to make an informed choice and to set up their preferred arrangements?  

• Are people able to access care and support arrangements that are flexible and tailored to meet their own personally-defined outcomes? 

• To what extent are people able to obtain non-conventional forms of social care? 

We know that not everyone has the same experience when it comes to accessing Self-directed Support, but we have seen just how transformational it can be to the lives of service users and their families when it works well. We believe that reporting progress based on service user experience is not only powerful but vital to improving SDS in the future.

Reports and findings

My Support, My Choice: User Experiences of Self-directed Support in Scotland is now available to read online, with an Easy Read version available too. We will also be running feedback sessions across Scotland.

18 March 2020 update following COVID-19: due to the quickly developing situation with COVID-19, all local feedback sessions for MSMC are postponed. New dates and venues will be agreed and advertised when possible. The ALLIANCE and SDSS have also taken the difficult decision to delay publication of local reports so that Local Authorities can prioritise front-line service provision. Thematic reports and the Scotland report are due to be published online later this year.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact: research@sdsscotland.org.uk