2. Empowering service users and finding out what they really want A seminar to present BlueSalmon: a new self- assessment and portable support planning tool 17 June 2008 Presented by Lemos&Crane with the support of City Bridge Trust and The Ashden Trust

3. Presenting BlueSalmon Meshach Mills Darren Augustin (Thames Reach Peer Researchers)

4. Peer Researchers Darren and I were employed last year for 4 months as peer researchers.

5. Why? To help Lemos&Crane develop and trial the Blue Salmon website.

6. Peer Researchers For the Blue Salmon Project to work we needed to get feedback from Thames Reach service users at every stage of development.

7. Why? So the project could become as service user friendly as possible

8. What is the Blue Salmon Project? Fun Interactive Website Set goals towards ambitions Social & emotional fulfilment Print outs

9. What is the Blue Salmon Project? New interests and hobbies Discussion point Empowers you Help with action planning at key work sessions Password protected

10. Delivering Consultations to service users & staff 1:2:1 testing Half day sessions at Hudson House Christmas workshop 82 tests were achieved over the consultation period

11. Consultation Questions? How easy was it for you to find your way around the site? How clear were the questions and instructions? How could they be improved? Do you think the questions asked were about things which are important to you?

12. Consultation Questions? Are they the right questions to ask about your sense of identity etc? How clear were the graphics? How could they be improved? How useful was the action plan? How could it be improved?

13. Consultation Questions? What are your overall impressions of Blue Salmon? Do you think you will use the full version when it is launched? There was a space for any other comments!

14. www.bluesalmon.org.uk

15. This is the main screen of BlueSalmon where clients would have the option of signing in or registering The service user can log in if already registered Alternatively the service user has to create their own account Organisations that are not registered with BlueSalmon can take a guided tour.

16. Here the client would enter their log in name and password If the user forgets their password they can click on this line which would give alternative methods of retrieving user name and password

17. The user then has the option of looking at three modules. Identity, My relationships, and My family and friends. Alternatively if the service user has completed any modules they can then go straight to their action plan.

18. At the beginning of each module, an explanation is given about its purpose and intention, and what the client can achieve from the module.

19. The client is asked to identify five key turning points in their life and from the drop down box say whether it was a positive or negative experience

21. This allows the client to think about any plans for the future to better their life. This allows the client to think about any plans for the future to better their life.

23. A graph then shows the ups and downs from the past, as well as the goals for the future.

24. Once the line of life has been identified, the client is then able to select some goals that they would consider in their action plan Once the line of life has been identified, the client is then able to select some goals that they would consider in their action plan

25. The service user is awarded a medal for completing the first quarter of the identity module. This is to give the service user an incentive to complete the rest of the module and to reassure them that they can take a break at any time as this is a lot of information to give and take in.

28. The service user being based at the centre of the diagram Each module working around the service user.

29. The module selected then becomes the centre point of the diagram The module selected then becomes the centre point of the diagram The arrow points to some of the goals that the service user wants to achieve.

30. In the case of the family and friends action plan the goal may be to see more or less of an individual An action plan goal in this section may be to see more or less of an individual An action plan goal in this section may be to see more or less of an individual

31. A relationship goal may be to address an individual about your and their needs.

32. These options allow the service user to make further progress with the action plan e.g. adding new goals, marking goals as complete, or deleting goals from the action plan These options allow the service user to make further progress with the action plan e.g. adding new goals, marking goals as complete, or deleting goals from the action plan

33. Service user would enter the goal they would like to add Select what module they would like the added goal to go into And simply add this goal by clicking the button

34. This is then shown in the main action plan of the identity section

35. The service user can type in the support they might need to achieve this goal Then click to add the support to the goal

36. The support needed is then added to the main action plan.

37. The service user then has the option of sharing their action plan, by simply entering the email address of the person they would like to share their action plan with Then clicking on this button to sending the request to share the plan

38. What service users have said about Blue Salmon “It gave me insight” “Changed my thinking. I found it very enriching” “Helped me to reach inside” “It’s a nice change to other types of projects”

40. Questions for discussion In what ways can you see BlueSalmon benefiting vulnerable service users? What difficulties or barriers can you envisage that would prevent their engagement with the resource? How can these difficulties or barriers be overcome? What implications would this have for your organisation in terms of approaches to assessment and support planning?

41. Next steps for BlueSalmon Subscribing organisations include: –The Croftlands Trust in Cumbria working with people with complex needs –Nacro and their nationwide services for ex-offenders –English Churches Housing Group - one of the largest providers of supported housing services in the UK BlueSalmon currently being used by eight charities working with prisoners and ex-offenders (sponsored by The Ashden Trust) Over 80 other providers of supported housing currently assessing BlueSalmon