Could you be supported by Shared Lives? Your questions answered
Shared Lives is a council-run, CQC-regulated service that matches carers with people who need support. That support can be living in the carer's home or elsewhere.
Do you think you could benefit from the support of a carer? Or know someone who could? If you’d like to know more, we asked the Shared Lives team to answer some of the most asked questions they hear from Wirral residents…
What is Shared Lives?
Shared Lives is a care service that supports people in a family home. Shared Lives carers welcome adults with care and support needs into their own home, to be cared for as part of their family.
Unlike traditional health and social care settings such as supported living and residential care, Shared Lives supports people in the community, in a family home. The people supported by Shared Lives have an extended family that is truly flexible to their individual needs.
Who can benefit from a Shared Lives carer?
Shared Lives helps people from all walks of life with varying care needs, aged 16+.
The people we support thrive in their carefully matched families. Anyone with a support need can benefit from Shared Lives, regardless of their background. The only criteria we have is that the person is not typically in need of night support.
People who could benefit from the service include (but are not limited to):
- people with a learning disability
- autistic people
- people who experience mental health issues
- people with a physical disability
- people with a sensory impairment
- older people
- people with dementia
- people transitioning from Children's services
- Mum/Dad and baby placements
- people who have additional needs who need support after domestic abuse
- Long term family placements - this means that the person supported will live with their shared lives family
- Short term placements - this is usually to support someone to get a place of their own.
- Respite holiday - this means that people who are supported by a Shared Lives carer or an unpaid carer (e.g. parent carers), can have respite holidays with Shared Lives families. This could be a day or up to two or three weeks.
- Day support – this could work for a person who requires day support, but traditional day support isn’t suitable for them. Day support within a small Shared Lives family could be a better fit.
- Find more information on the council’s website
- Contact the team by email at sharedlives@wirral.gov.uk
