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Housing 21 has issued a special report on the impact of the Governments personalisation agenda on older peoples housing. The publication of the report coincides with the launch of an on-line discussion board aimed at broadening the debate.
The report is a summary of the main points of debate at a workshop for key stakeholders held by the leading provider of housing and care for older people. Workshop participants identified and
discussed key issues such as:
How specialist housing providers can enable older people to put together personalised support packages.
How staffing and management structures can be made more flexible to respond to the challenges of the personalisation agenda
The implications of personal budgets on the sustainability of housing models such as extra care. How can providers balance flexibility and choice with service sustainability?
The workshop concluded that housing providers who are adaptable and put the older person first rather than the service, should be optimistic about the opportunities and challenges that Personal Budgets will present.
Interested stakeholders are now invited to download the report called Building Choices from Housing 21s website www.housing21.co.uk and to comment on the issues raised via the on-line discussion board at http://www.housing21.co.uk/db.
Sarah Vallelly, Research Manager at Housing 21 said: We want to kick-start discussion around the impact that personal budgets will have on older peoples housing.
The housing sector does need to sit up and take notice now. Person-centred services will become a reality and we believe that the personalisation agenda can create new opportunities for extra care and sheltered housing.
Sarah Vallelly continues There are challenges to overcome and complex issues to consider but we hope that by opening up this debate we will all be in a much better position to tackle these and make the best of an exciting opportunity.
In welcoming the publication of the report, James Berrington, Policy Manager at the Housing Corporation said This work greatly adds to our understanding of the impact the personalisation agenda will have on specialist housing. It is published at a critical time when the personalisation agenda dominates public policy debate. Lessons learned from this work in the context of housing for older people will also prove useful for all specialist housing, whatever the client group.
Housing 21 received an Innovation and Good Practice grant from the Housing Corporation with support from the Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) to undertake this project. The next phase will involve focussed work in West Sussex and Oldham. A final report will be published at the end of this year.
