SWALLOW Market Engagement Results
The SWALLOW Charity team were invited to run and organise a series of events for the B&NES commissioning team to help shape the future of support services for adults with learning disabilities and / or autism (LD&A).
The aim was to hear from as many people as possible that receive learning disability and autism support across B&NES. We wanted their views on how good support can improve their lives, what improvements are needed and what would they like to see in the future.
To achieve this, SWALLOW worked with Open Storytellers from Frome, to run six workshops, supported by SWALLOW members. They also invited all other service providers to help them with the process by encouraging the people that they support to attend. SWALLOW designed an easy read survey and a parent carer survey to try and ensure that as many people as possible had their views heard.
Conclusions and summary:
The feedback gathered through the face-to-face meetings, the easy read report and the parents and carers survey provide a clear picture of what matters most to people with a learning disability and autism living in B&NES and their families when thinking about their current support and future services that may be needed.
Across all three areas of engagement, there is a strong message that people want to be listened to, understood and involved in decisions about their lives. People value support that helps them to become more independent, develop skills, maintain relationships and have control over their lives.
The feedback establishes that current support is making a positive difference. Many people reported that support helps them to feel safe, healthy and more confident. While families and carers recognised the importance of reliable support that helps people achieve their goals and live meaningful lives.
A key theme throughout the feedback was the importance of person-centred support. People require services to understand them as individuals, recognise their strengths and aspirations and provide support that fits around their needs.
The importance of communication and information was highlighted across the engagement. People want information to be clear, accessible and easy to understand. Families and carers also highlighted the need for better communication, planning and involvement.
Another strong theme was the importance of community, relationships and belonging. People want opportunities to make friends, take part in activities, learn new skills, access employment or volunteering opportunities and feel included within their communities.
The feedback also highlighted the need for better planning for the future, particularly around housing, supported living, transitions and preparing for changes in people’s lives.
Families and carers shared the importance of having trusted support networks and confidence that services will be well managed and work together to support both the person and those around them.
Overall, the findings show that while many people are positive about the support they receive, there are opportunities to improve how services communicate, coordinate and personalise individual support.
Here are the detailed findings:
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