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Carer Watch.com / Testimonies / Mental Health / I want plenty of modern supervised group living options

Name	Your Story
Anonymous	# Posted: 7 Feb 2008 05:33 Reply Our local authority keep trying to move my adult son who has schizophrenia out from supervised group living to his own flat under their Choice and Independence Agenda. Doesn't that sound nice. And cheap. I don't know the safety issues for people with learning disabiltity or autism but with schizophrenia carers are worried about the newly independent person not taking their medication and spiralling back into revolving door psychosis. We are told that care workers will be visiting to supervise this independence but after years of visiting ourselves at flats where we aren't admitted or if we are we may stick to the floor we are cynical. And we know the local drug dealers and other friends from the mental health community might be visiting possibly with alcohol and all that old anxiety kicks in again. The neighbours don't like the all night visiting and complain. There is a plea in the public housing officers magazine this month for social workers to respond and help in all the situations that are arising where neighbours are insisting that mentally ill people are evicted. Independent living, independent budgets, it sounds wonderful. But if you have ever had your child missing for months or running up crippling debts or refusing to admit the cleaner you bribed to go round you get worried. I don't at all want to to be negative for people who can and want to cope independently and of course life is risky and you have to take risks. But sometimes independence actually means the carer and family supervising from a distance and I for one have been there, got the t-shirt and had terrifying anxiety and dreadful situations to cope with. I prefer tightly supervised money that comes in small amounts and my son to live in group accommodation where someone is supervising and keeping an eye especially on the medication. And where groups can live safely and supervised to combat the crippling isolation. This group accommodaton can be on a cheerful High Road, by bus stops and they can come and go as they like. We had all this until the choice was removed when it was all closed down under the Choice and Independence Agenda. Other wise although my son is officially more independent - I am actually doing the supervising in the unhealthy, nagging, parental way that parents fall in to. And what happens when I am not there to do it. My view is very unfashionable but I want plenty of modern supervised group living options. That is actually safer and leads to the kind of independence you get when you are happy and safe and can get on with your life.
rosieh	# Posted: 16 Feb 2008 14:19 Reply My son's friend's brother was pushed into accepting a flat for "independent living" and relied on his mother to try to ensure he took his medication. Obviously this is impossible in these situations. The lad felt so threatened by his unsupervised life he ended it by jumping from a motorway bridge. His mother and brother now have to live with his horrible death and the feeling they failed him.
Kia	# Posted: 20 Jun 2008 07:21 Reply I agree whole-heartedly on this issue & feel for what you're going through. Group living is much healthier & safer for those who need supervision & medication. My son is still at home but I dread where he might end up when the time comes or when I'm no longer around to care for him. It's a vital issue that needs to be dealt with & a proper system put in place.
Boo	# Posted: 24 Jun 2008 17:19 Reply Group living works in the short term, but tends to break down after a few months. I set up a number of group living schemes in the 1990's mainly using converted accommodation, but the only ones that survived were the ones with a cluster of four to six purpose built self-contained flats with a light 24 hr warden presence.
frances	# Posted: 26 Jun 2008 02:32 Reply That sounds perfect Boo. Difficulties between people and for individuals are bound to make things unstable, that comes with the territory. Good care in the community options are expensive. When they closed the accommodation a lot of the residents were forced out in flats on sink estates, no supervision, local drug dealer in attendance, alcohol very cheap at every 24 hour shop. My son went the other way in to the remaining highly supervised care home option where everyone is much worse than him. They need to spend money with good lightly supervised cluster housing. Perhaps we should add this to the list of mental health campaings we are considering in the discussion group. Come and talk it over there.

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