Self Assessment project - Harrow How it started …….

 Telephone Reviews  Telephone Assessments  SELF ASSESSMENTS  Context: Govt thrust towards self care, self management, self assessments

1 st step - Research  Contacted 3* Authorities – and others  Looked at research and tools conducted by others –  SWISH, Kent online  Dr. Griffiths, Kings College  Other authorities willing to share  Overall – not many models to choose from, everyone trialling

 Around 20% of authorities who were contacted, do telephone reviews  Usually done on a stable group of people  where it is unlikely there will be substantial changes  Could have been receiving services for some time Findings ……………. Telephone Reviews:

 Previous research by Age Concern and Joseph Rowntree indicates OLDER PEOPLE prefer contact meetings  Not applicable for people with communication difficulties, confusion etc.  Appropriate where care package stable and care package is less than 10 hours weekly / less than visits twice daily  Advance notice required so client prepared

 Negatives:  Safety concerns, might miss something  Not providing an equitable service  Deters use of Direct Payments  Unable to determine FACS eligibility

Findings ……………. Telephone Assessments:  3 out of 24 (13%) authorities do telephone assessments, then provide a service  2 of the 3 provide low level services, e.g. assistive aids - grab rails  1 arranged home care but only short term  All screen first  All followed up with face to face review visit

Self Assessments  5 out of 25 authorities (20%) offer self assessments  All 5 provide low level services only, i.e. simple OT aids  One authority (N Lincs) did Self Assessments in the past, but stopped due to low take-up  A further 5 are thinking about it, 3 of them actively pursuing

Overall - Observations and Myths  Social Services generally screen all referrals prior to making an appointment  Self Assessment is the same as self reporting  Telephone Assessments  Planned (not necessarily informal)  Carers Assessments  Often self assessments  Staff say ……  Might miss something if they don’t see a person

Modelling – for Harrow  Self Assessment doesn’t mean no face to face contact  Self assessment gives service users an opportunity to think about their difficulties and possible solutions in advance of a SW visit  We will trial it for anybody who wishes it (not limiting for low level only)  Developing for Disabilities Team as starter  (Can we trust it? How do we validate it?)

So far we have:  Choice of 3 models 1.Short (3 + 1 pages) – Bolton / in-house screening / pink 2.Medium (4 pages) – Torbay and hybrid / yellow 3.Long – similar to Overview - Southend and hybrid / cream  Hybrid mixture – other authorities, in-house screening, How Are You, Rapid Assessment, Overview Assessment  Flier (blue) which goes to new service users inviting them to be involved

 Not much interest  Not always appropriate:  First language not English  Physical issues (fits / child care / prognosis)  Learning disability / Residential review out of Borough  Controversial (potential complaint / multi faceted)  History of assessments  Mental health issues  Linking in with service user groups and vol orgs Trialling now ……….

Next steps  Continue to engage service users  Evaluate  Extend to other groups, i.e. older people  FACE introducing an online self assessment Big challenge ….. We will get there …….