Conclusion of My Support My Choice: People’s Experiences of Social Care in Scotland
SDSS and the ALLIANCE conclude reporting on “My Support My Choice”, a joint project into people’s experiences of social care in Scotland.
In 2019, the ALLIANCE and Self Directed Support Scotland (SDSS) started work on a joint research project, to provide evidence about people’s experiences of social care: My Support My Choice: People’s Experiences of Self-directed Support and Social Care in Scotland. Two and a half years on, the research team have heard from hundreds of disabled people, people living with long term conditions, and unpaid carers about their experiences of social care prior to COVID-19, and published 12 reports (plus Easy Read summaries).
My Support My Choice was the largest research project with self-selecting respondents who access or have attempted to access Self-directed Support in Scotland. People’s experiences, reported in My Support My Choice, have fed into the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, Social Work Scotland’s framework of standards for good Self-directed Support, and planning for the proposed National Care Service.
Publications include a national report sharing the key findings and recommendations of the project, thematic reports on the experiences of seldom heard from groups, and a range of local authority reports on people’s experiences of SDS in different parts of Scotland. The project reports and the accompanying Easy Read summaries are available to read with the links below. Following publication of each Local Authority report across 6 areas, local feedback sessions on the research have been undertaken to explore the delivery of SDS at every stage of the process, from first contact, to assessment, establishing eligibility, allocating resources, support planning and reviews. The input of those living and/or working in each area has been very valuable in discussing next steps in each locale to improving delivery of SDS and we look forward to summarising this process soon.
The research publications conclude with the publication of the Highland report today and, as with each Local Authority we worked with in this project, we note the Highland Health and Social Care Partnership’s commitment to improvement, collaboration and community led approaches, saying:
“In January of this year the Health and Social Care Committee agreed the SDS Strategy for Adult Services and we are now embarking on the important work of realising it and continuing with the collaborative approach that we have adopted to date. This work is progressing alongside other important related initiatives such as the development of Community Led Support.”
Sincere thanks from the My Support My Choice team to everyone who has been involved in this research project across the last few years – your contributions have been much appreciated and invaluable.
My Support, My Choice: User Experiences of Self-directed Support in Scotland
My Support, My Choice thematic reports
My Support, My Choice local authority reports and feedback sessions:
