Self Directed Support Study Trip: Tasmania to benefit from UK experience
Rob Bellchambers writes: In 2010 I undertook a study tour of England, Scotland and Wales to investigate self-directed support. While self-directed support is well underway in several countries (and some Australian states), it has not yet developed in Tasmania. Nonetheless, Individual Support Packages (ISPs) and Consumer Directed Aged Care packages may be seen as small steps towards the proper development of self-directed approaches in Tasmania. I
This first-hand account was written by Rob Bellchambers, Development Manager with Anglicare Tasmania.
Rob Bellchambers writes: In 2010 I undertook a study tour of England, Scotland and Wales to investigate self-directed support. While self-directed support is well underway in several countries (and some Australian states), it has not yet developed in Tasmania. Nonetheless, Individual Support Packages (ISPs) and Consumer Directed Aged Care packages may be seen as small steps towards the proper development of self-directed approaches in Tasmania.
I started my trip in London and moved up through the midlands, Yorkshire, the Newcastle region, Scotland (Edinburgh and Glasgow) and Wales. I was able to learn much from the trip to Britain. It was great to meet so many interesting and generous people representing themselves or their organisations.
Whilst in Glasgow, I was lucky enough to be invited to attend an international In Control meeting with representatives from Australia, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Finland. This was a great opportunity to learn about the underpinning principles and goals of the In Control movement.
Throughout this trip, it was interesting to get some firsthand information from service providers and users about the practical implications of the personalisation agenda, the implementation of self-directed support, and how direct payments, personal budgets, and individual budgets work.
It was fascinating to see how the self-directed support approach is influencing the evolution of social care and driving the establishment of user led organisations. After visiting some of these organisations and meeting the service users and workers, I began to get a real feel for how self-directed approaches are giving people ‘real' control of their lives and how it is changing the nature of relationships between service users and those who provide support.
In this sense it was also encouraging to see how self-directed supports are encouraging providers to recognise and develop innovative and individualised working policies to customise support and address any risk issues.
My study trip was funded by the Jerrim Fellowship, awarded each year to an Anglicare Tasmania employee who wishes to travel overseas to research innovative developments and best practice within community services.
