We help Ruman move on and live independently

Ruman is a bubbly and outgoing young lady who is supported to live independently. She particularly loves nights out on the town, going out for meals, shopping and going to the cinema with friends. But Ruman hasn’t always enjoyed such freedom.

Ruman has a mild learning difficulty and for three years she was supported in a house with three other people. At first she enjoyed living with other people and was also supported to attend a beautician course at the local college. But over time Ruman became increasingly unhappy at home.

“She would refuse to get involved in household tasks and it became increasingly difficult to motivate her,” says Mandy, her support worker. “She would isolate herself in her room and limited her interaction with her housemates. Ruman, who was usually calm, became verbally aggressive with support staff and the other people living in the house. Ruman appeared to be unhappy all the time and never invited her friends to visit her at home- she preferred to go out by herself rather than socialise with her housemates.”

Recognising that her behaviour was increasingly out of character (and sometimes challenging) the support team decided it was time to gently speak with her about her behaviour and how she was feeling. To help Ruman express her feelings, the team used debate tools such as 4 + 1, Learning Logs and ABC charts to facilitate the conversation.

“Ruman told us that she was feeling frustrated because she felt she was more independent than her housemates and didn’t need to depend on support staff as much as they did,” explains Mandy. “She felt that the support team did too much for her, and wanted to do more by herself, which made her frustrated. She had made her own friends from her college course, was able to go out on her own more often.”

On reflection, the team recognised much of this to be true. So, with her involvement, Ruman’s person-centred plan was reviewed and it demonstrated that she was able to do many things on her own. Ruman led the decision to try living on her own, with less support hours.

Ruman was supported to go to the council and get herself put on the Council’s housing waiting list. Staff then helped her check the homes on offer and apply for them; within a month she had a home that suited her perfectly. She was then supported to apply for a community care grant to help furnish the flat. Staff supported Ruman to ensure all her benefits were accurate and contacted welfare rights to ensure all was done correctly.

Ruman’s 20 hours of support hours were reassessed by Social Services. She is now being supported to live independently in her own flat with 4 hours support each week.

Mandy has seen a positive change in Rumen: “She is a completely different person. She does all her own cleaning, ironing, washing and shopping. Whereas when she lived in shared accommodation, it was a challenge to motivate her to do any of this. Now she’s free to pop down to the discothèque any time she wants- but the washing up will still need doing in the morning!”

Jennifer Daniels, marketing assistant 

Are you in need of support?

If you or someone you know is interested in learning how United Response can support you to live independently, please contact us via our Get Support freephone number, email or enquiry form.

If you or someone you know is interested in learning how United Response can support you to live independently, please contact us via our Get Support freephone number, email or enquiry form.

-0800 0884 377

-Get Support Form

-get.support@unitedresponse.org.uk