Self Directed Support is part of the Transforming Your Care Strategic approach to developing Person Centred Services and is designed to aid the transformation of Social Care Services from a “service led” system to one that promotes peoples’ autonomy and independence through mainstreaming a Self Directed Support approach.
The term ‘Self Directed Support’ describes the ways in which individuals and families can have informed choice about the way care is provided to them. It includes a range of service delivery options including Direct Payments for exercising those choices.
Through a partnership approach to needs assessment individual outcomes are agreed and options are considered within available resources so people can have greater levels of control over how and by whom their care needs are met. Self Directed Support is a unique partnership between families, individuals, services, third and independent sector organisations and Government bodies.
Self Directed Support allows for greater control and more flexibility by individuals and families over a personal budget. It includes a number of options for getting support. The individual’s personal budget can be:
- Taken as a Direct Payment (a cash payment),
- A managed budget (where the Trust or an agreed 3rd party organization holds the budget, but the person is in control of how it is spent)
- The Trust can arrange a service, or you can choose a mixture of these options
How does it work?
The introduction of Self Directed Support means that once a Trust agrees that an individual needs social care support they can work together with their key worker to agree how care is provided, that best meets their assessed needs.
If the person you care for needs help to organise their support they can ask the Trust, family members or a friend to help with this.
Additional information is available through the Frequently Asked Questions documents which you can view by clicking on the links below:
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Benefits of Self Directed Support
The aim of Self Directed Support is to promote independence by offering more flexibility on how services are provided to people who are assessed as being eligible for social care support. Self Directed Support enables people to take more control over decisions which affect their lives. It is intended to support independent living by giving people more choice, control and flexibility over their own care.
Self Directed Support allows you to choose what type of support you receive and where and when you receive it. For example you might want to:
- Have your support staff visit at a time that you choose
- Employ your own personal assistant
From the introduction of Self Directed Support the Trust has been gathering information to evaluate the impact of this new service delivery model. Visit the Health and Social Care Board’s SDS webpage here.
For more information on Self Directed Support, please speak to your key worker.
- Further Resources
