Housing models for people with learning disability
IMPACT Facilitator, Marlene, is working with Thera Trust an organisation which leads a Group of 13 other companies, providing care and support to around 3,000 adults in their homes and in the community, as well as specialist support including around housing. This project is focused on housing models for people with learning disabilities, across England.
The evidence review conducted by IMPACT consistently shows that independent and personalised housing solutions benefit individual wellbeing by improving social support, enrichment, and skills development. While this is well-established, cost is frequently cited as a barrier, and bespoke housing is often unavailable. People with learning disabilities have diverse needs, desires, and preferences, and a core recommendation from the evidence is that individuals should be empowered to make decisions about their own homes and how they wish to live within them.
Meet our Facilitator: Marlene Kelly
My name is Marlene Kelly and I am based in London. This is my second IMPACT Facilitator project; having previously looked at recruiting men into social care. I am based in London, have a background in social care practice and continue to work as a Director for a care home company.
Why did you want to be involved with IMPACT?
I enjoy working 50% in practice and 50% in research because I’m passionate about making research accessible to those in practice. IMPACT has been a fantastic organisation for developing my skills in facilitating research and boosting my confidence.
Project Host Organisation
Background
Thera Trust is a charity that supports people with a learning disability to live the lives they choose. We believe that people with a learning disability can be leaders in society and should be in control of their lives and their support.
Why did you want to become involved with IMPACT?
We believe people should be able to choose where they live, who they live with, and live in a house that meets their needs. Through our work we see the impact that this can have on the lives, wellbeing and opportunities of people with a learning disability. We also see the many barriers that individuals, families, support providers and others face when trying to get the right housing. We wanted to get involved with IMPACT to change that – to learn more about what it is that really leads to good outcomes and how to influence housing options and commissioning practices so that more people get the right house for them.
What are your hopes for the project?
We hope that this project will help us to understand more about people’s experiences and build evidence of the long-term impact of the right housing. We are also looking to better understand the barriers and challenges, and start finding ways to overcome these.
What challenges might there be in the project?
We want to involve lots of different people in the project, so finding time in everyone’s diaries will definitely be a challenge! We also recognise that there are many different factors that affect someone’s housing options and what is right for them, so there isn’t going to be a simple solution. Housing for people with a learning disability is part of a complex and often underfunded system of social care, and depends on many other things such as the local housing market, commissioning policies, healthcare and individual preferences, which we all need to account for in the project.
Why do you think a centre like IMPACT is important?
IMPACT is important because it helps us to improve adult social care using evidence-based practice, not just guessing what we think might work! By sharing the results of our work with IMPACT, we can improve things not just for the people we support but for the sector more widely.