People in Essex with learning disabilities and autism are working with health and care staff on new methods of support
Tue 10 Sep 2019 10.54 BST
Louise Sayer is a disruptor. The 28-year-old from Essex is among 24 learning disabled or autistic people who have been working with local health and care staff to design new methods of support. Council managers have been so impressed with Sayer that they recently offered her a permanent job as a co-production support officer.
During the collaborative project between April and July, Sayer helped Essex county council create a health and care “one-stop shop” at a community venue in her Saffron Walden neighbourhood. This encourages learning disabled or autistic people to get help and information without visiting council offices. At a single session, 20 people got advice from professionals including social workers, voluntary sector care providers and employment advisers. The sessions now run monthly.
Sayer also helped launch an “easy read” (accessible) magazine featuring local events. “It’s a great way for people with autism and learning disabilities to find out about local news, events and jobs and services that might help them,” she says. The magazine was designed and printed by learning disabled people and there are plans for a regular publication produced by a permanent editorial team. These projects aim to boost support, opportunities and community connections.
The project in Essex was part of the 100 day challenge, a programme run by innovation charity Nesta that looks for alternatives to traditional top-down health and care support. Launched five years ago, the challenge encourages frontline health and care professionals to imagine new ideas, influenced by people who use services. Essex county council is the latest to follow the method and features in a new Nesta report.
The work involved communities in Saffron Walden, Canvey Island and Colchester. Among the new projects influenced by learning disabled people in Colchester, nine young people with learning disabilities ran book club sessions that are now being rolled out to three schools and a leisure centre. The launch of an inclusive cricket match in Canvey Island – an idea from a learning disabled sports fan – sparked weekly events at a leisure centre and plans for inclusive matches at a cricket club.
In each area, residents like Sayer suggested ideas to staff from the council, NHS, voluntary sector and organisations such as colleges or local employers. Sayer was nominated team captain of the Saffron Walden group: “Being the team captain gave me an opportunity to have my own voice … it was a great achievement for me.”
A few weeks after Sayer got involved in the 100 days challenge, Essex county council offered her a part-time job. She works with the learning disability and autism commissioning team to co-produce services “and check and challenge the approaches”. Sayer says she enjoys meeting new people in her job and likes “the potential to make a difference”.
Essex adopted the Nesta approach to kickstart a wider three-year drive to improve learning disability and autism support. The work was inexpensive; over 100 days, the council spent a total of £40 on community venues and £3,000 on books for the book group. The cost-efficient, collaborative work is timely given the financial crisis in social care and the drive to more fully involve people who use support in designing services.
Jessica Stewart, Essex county council’s head of strategic commissioning and policy, learning disabilities and autism, says: “Our services, a lot of which are traditional, were not necessarily meeting people’s aspirations … We wanted to do something innovative and creative, with frontline professionals and people with lived experience.”
Daniel Farag, director of Nesta’s health lab team, says the approach aims to create a lasting difference in Essex: “Although the 100 days are over, we’re so excited to see how the teams continue to grow their projects and the positive impact being part of the project has had on all involved.”
The work began with the council deciding which parts of the county to focus on (such as rural neighbourhoods, where people might be isolated). Staff set up teams in each area consisting of learning disabled or autistic residents, their family members or carers, and frontline staff, senior professionals and local councillors. The groups met regularly to discuss ideas generated by the learning disabled team members. They involved organisations in the community – the local cricket club, for example – and tested the ideas.
Oliver Wyatt, senior social worker at Essex county council, says it encourages partnerships between local organisations. He says the challenge is “getting all the professionals together in the same room time” and the main impact is reaching people who might not otherwise get support. One autistic man in his 20s had never had statutory support but came to a one-stop shop after seeing the event advertised at his GP surgery. Wyatt did an initial support assessment and the man is likely to get help with finding a job.
As Sayer makes clear, the aim is not simply to change existing support, but raise people’s ambitions: “I’d like to continue to advocate on behalf of people with learning disability and autism, but ultimately: move over, Boris.”
