promoting equality in the field of rights, and equality of service.
The value or principle of Choice lies at the very heart of treating each person with dignity and respect, in giving a person the possibility of choice one allows that person to express their individuality and be accepted as a unique being with his/his own ideas, beliefs, feelings, wants and needs. It therefore follows that in social care it is a good practice to promote the possibility of giving people choice.
My clients are divided into two distinct groups. Firstly, there are those requiring a housing support service via community care for those with learning disability, physical disability and other care needs. .
Secondly, there are those who live with relatives, or who live in hostels or attend centres for those with learning disabilities. The one-to-one service provided tries to integrate them into the wider community in which they live by enabling them to take part in leisure, educational and other activities that their able-bodied peers take for granted.
Both of these groups appear to have choices. .
The housing support (HS) clients, many of whom have spent the majority of their lives receiving total care, appear to have met their desired goal of independent living by holding their own tenancy of a council or housing association flat. .
They have the basic choices that most of society take for granted e.g. the choice of when to get up; what to eat; what to wear; etc. However, in reality, their independence' is not as clear-cut as it may seem and their choices may be limited. The majority of these clients require round-the-clock support from paid support staff. The service provided by the support staff is required to meet the strict criteria laid down by the sponsoring local authority. Without such support it is unlikely that such clients would be able to maintain their tenancies due to their limited personal abilities.
