Relocation, portability and social care practice: investigating the barriers and solutions encountered by disabled people when moving across local authority areas for employment and education reasons
Dave Marsland Completed 2014
Dave Marsland Completed 2014
This study explored the experiences of people who have moved and relocated their social care support to a new local authority, and what social care practitioners do in helping people to relocate.
The study found: moving house for people with social care needs, involves managing a complex set of circumstances, interrelated needs and challenges and addressing several aspects of their care and support simultaneously; prior to moving, people are not always known to anyone in the new local authority; different local authorities offer differing kinds of support services and interpret legislation and guidance in varying ways.
People may receive different levels of support – better or worse – when they move or they may even become ineligible for local authority funded social care support in the area that they move to. Consequently, the process of relocation is associated with several risks, uncertainties and unknowns. For some people the process of relocating can lead to stress, anxiety and people experiencing a loss of control over their support; social care practitioners who are likely to support people who relocate, appear to have good insights into the complex and challenging situation of moving. Some are very aware of the problems that might occur over the transitions and changes involved; effective practice, in supporting people who move, seems to focus on careful coordination, regular and open communication and efficient and timely action across a range of agencies.
The findings suggest that this focus will help to synchronize the multiple elements concerned and promote some continuity of care, particularly at the point that people actually move. It is vital for both people moving, and the relevant practitioners, to have contingency plans in mind for unforeseen events and crises.