Keys to Life
The Scottish Government introduced Keys to Life in 2013 as a ten-year strategic policy to increase inclusion and improved lifestyles for people with learning disability and their carers.
Earlier reviews of the strategy showed that more needed to be done in the area of employment to support people with learning disability, and outcome-based and personalisation work was being taken forward. It is good to see that now the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability (SCLD) is taking these issues forward. The organisation has recently carried out a national consultation across Scotland on what people need on how to gain, and to be supported, in employment.
Personalisation Framework
Most recently the topic of personalisation has been researched and consulted upon by the SCLD. The outcome is a framework to allow services to self-assess their own performance in personalisation, as well as to devise action plans to improve that performance. The use of the framework is to assess the impact the service has on people’s lives. It can be used in services for people with learning disability, mental health problems, physical disability and for older people’s services.
The tool can be used in paper format, or as part of a downloadable database. There is also a user guide as well as free training events throughout Scotland on how to use the framework. It is good to see that the tool has been devised by working closely with people who receive services, the ‘experts by experience’ as the SCLD memorably puts it.
Aims & Outcomes
Performance measurement, improvement planning, and providing evidence on personalisation are the three main aims of using the tool. People receiving self-directed support identified four areas for services to achieve in promoting good outcomes for its users:
- Dignity, Integrity and Accountability;
- Flexibility, Creativity and Innovation;
- Meaningful Choice and Control;
- Working Together, Collaboration and Participation in the Community.
Stakeholders in the service are regularly consulted and involved, in planning, using, and reviewing the self-assessment regularly. The guidance tells services that outcomes can be measured for individuals, for the group served as a whole, and commendably, for the impact the service has on the community through its personalisation.
This self-assessment tool is a highly useful development, with much promise to develop community and service awareness and promotion of self-directed support. It also promises to deliver on the major issues of rights, equality and inclusion which form part of the government’s strategy, and it will be interesting to see how the outcomes of this strategy are delivered.
Links
http://www.scld.org.uk/progress-in-personalisation-a-self-assessment-framework/
