Shared Lives Southend

Shared Lives Southend (formerly known as Adult Placement) offers people an alternative and highly flexible form of accommodation, care or support inside or outside the home. Individuals, couples or families, in the local community, provide the care and accommodation to help people live independent lives.

What we offer

  • you can live in the Carers own home or stay for short breaks
  • placements can be from one night up to several months
  • you can have day support with a carer

About the Shared Lives Carers

  • we recruit, carry out checks and train Shared Lives Carers to ensure they can provide the right support
  • we review the Carers regularly to make sure everything is OK

Finding the right Carer

  • we will tell you about possible Shared Lives Carers you could live with
  • we will help you find a Carer that might be right for you
  • we can show you photographs of the Carers and their home
  • you will be able to meet the Carers and can visit them a few times to get to know each other
  • you can sleep there once or twice if you want to
  • then you can try living with the Carers. Living there will help you to know if it is OK for the Carers and you
  • if the Carers agree, you can move into your new home

To find out more, contact Adult Social Care on 01702 215008

Sharing Lives film

In February 2010, a short film was made about the Shared Lives (Adult Placement) scheme. Service users and carers from the Southend scheme feature in the film, reflecting on their experiences of adult placement. You can watch it on YouTube.

Are you interested in becoming a Shared Lives Carer?

Anyone can apply to become a Shared Lives carer. Many carers have had experience of working in social care, but some have had no experience at all. What is important is that you are enthusiastic, committed, caring, encouraging and sensitive to others' needs. Shared Lives involves sharing family and community life. Single people, couples or families with children can be Shared Lives carers.

  • whatever the form of care you provide, you should be willing to use your family home as a resource
  • shared lives carers will be offered training as part of the assessment process and ongoing training once approved as a shared lives carer
  • shared Lives carers do not employ staff to provide care to the people placed with them, but members of your household may act as support carers'
  • shared Lives finds people who get on well together and when a match works, Shared Lives starts to feel like family life, rather than a service
  • shared lives carers will go through an assessment process, which includes DBS checks and references

Contact Adult Social Care

Telephone: 01702 215008

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