Difference between Domicillary Care & Supported Living

[Jo145]

Is there a difference between these two services? My son’s care providers say in their contract that they are providing a Supported Living service but the Local Authority who are funding the care have assessed his needs on a Domiciliary Care basis. Does this matter?

[Rod66]

Hi Jo145,

My name is Rod from Golden Lane Housing and I am answering questions this month as the “housing expert”. Its good question and one I must admit I had to think about.

My understanding is domiciliary care is a term often used to describe home care which can be provided to anyone with care needs in their own home. Most people will be familiar with this as a description of care an older person might receive say from someone for a few hours each day but it applies generally to all care provided to anyone in the home.

A supported living service is a more specific name given to a model where accommodation, which is often rented from a housing association or local authority, is provided with care and support for the tenant. An organisation that provides care and support which could be in a supported living model is required to be registered as a domiciliary care provider with the Care Quality Commission.

I hope this explanation helps

Kind regards
Rod

[Starfish]

Hi Jo145, my son has lived in a Supported Living environment for 13 years. The single story building contains 10 single person apartments and was built by a local housing association specifically for the 10 people who each have a secure tenancy. It was commissioned by myself and several other parents. The range of abilities of our sons and daughters is diverse, some need support for just a few hours a day while others receive support 24 hours a day. Each person has their own funding package from either Social Services or Continuing Health Care or a combination of both and is based on their assessed support needs. Each person also has their own staff team although some staff do work with other tenants on occasion. All the support staff are employed by the same domiciliary care provider and and the service has always been recognised as ‘Supported Living’. Domiciliary Care providers support people in their own homes. I hope this helps.
Best wishes, Starfish.

[Mrsk]

Hi Starfish,
I’m interested in how you were able to commission this housing development? I’m trying to find a similar arrangement for my brother, ages 53, who has both physical and learning disabilities, very restricted mobility and increasing health needs. He self funds. He doesn’t like living in a flat on his own but residential care isn’t really an option and in any case it’s hard to find unless for over 65s. Did you already have a network of interested parents? We have the family resources to buy a property for him, but can’t square how to pay for running costs and care on top. Sharing it seemed a good solution, creating our own version of supported living, but it turns out to be incredibly complicated in practice. I don’t know anybody else in the same situation and have no idea where to look for support. Any advice welcome! Thanks.

[Starfish]

Hello Mrsk, several years ago myself and a friend were voicing our concerns about who would care for our sons when we became too old, too ill or when we died. My son is severely learning and physically disabled and on the autistic spectrum. We knew other parents who’s adult children had moved into shared houses which were not successful as arrangements had been made at a time of crisis when parents or relatives had been either taken ill or had died and people were and still are, living with people they don’t necessarily get on with. We wanted to be part of the decision making process and so set out a plan of action. There isn’t enough space here to go into detail but in a nutshell we used our local branch of Carers Uk to help us contact other parents and also contacted social services to tell them what we intended doing. In the end several families committed to going ahead to getting tenancies for 10 adults. We also asked a brokerage company to help our sons/daughters apply for funding to enable them to move out of the family home and afford to live in an assured tenancy. The council approached a local housing association who agreed to build the 10 flats, (they agreed because they were assured that everyone would have adequate funding) The single person flats are all under one roof and there is a large communal lounge and kitchen so people can socialise if they wish but are also completely independent. Some other parents we know have followed a similar path to us whilst others have approached local domiciliary care providers to find any vacancies they may have. I’d advise you to enquirer at your local ‘Carers Centre’ to see if there are any support groups for parents/relatives of adults with learning disabilities so you can share ideas or you could search the internet for domiciliary care providers in your area, there are usually several and it will tell you the client group and type of support they offer. I’m willing to speak privately to you or any other parents who are interested but am not sure how to pass on my personal details.

[sianwhite]

Hi @Starfish,

If you’d like to speak privately, you should be able to send private messages through FamilyHub. Just click on a user’s name, and click their name again in the little pop up, then you should see an option to send a private message.

Let me know if you have any questions!

[Jo145]

Hi. Sorry for the delay in this reply. It’s not really a housing development - a parent with a disabled young person also had approached me as she wanted to buy a house for her son to live in for the rest of his life but she wanted 3 others to live there too. My son rents his room in the house (funded by Housing Benefit) and the local authority fund his care package through Direct Payments. My son has to pay a large proportion towards his care though, he uses his PIP for this. And then he pays all his bills etc & living costs using his ESA. Running costs of the house are usually met by us parents and yes, it has been incredibly complicated and hard work sorting it all out! Good luck to you and your family.