Community Integrated Care Supports Sitra

North-West members of Sitra, the national membership organisation for providers of supported housing, came together for an exciting event exploring the use of One Page Profiles in their sector.

The event, which was held in partnership with Community Integrated Care and One Page Profile pioneers – Helen Sanderson Associates, took place on 1^st July 2014, marking the end of Sitra’s campaign to introduce 100 new One Page Profile’s to the supported housing sector.

It was held at our head office in Cheshire and was attended by senior representatives from Places for People, Bay Housing, Great Places, Nacro and Helena Housing.

One Page Profile’s are a tool that are used to understand the individuality of a person, highlighting what people admire about them, what is important to them and how they can best be supported. In doing so, they distill the essence of what makes a person special and unique – helping them to form better, more productive relationships with the important people in their lives.

They are used extensively in the social care sector, enabling care providers to ensure that their services properly respond to the needs, personality and aspirations of the people they support.  Sitra are aiming to increase their use in the supported housing sector – with the aim of housing providers developing more productive, person-centred relationships with their tenants and the care providers they alongside.

The event saw Vic Rayner, Chief Executive of Sitra, showcase to guests her vision for supported housing providers adopting One Page Profiles. Senior leaders from Community Integrated Care also shared their experience of undertaking a major personalisation project, which includes the significant aim of all staff and people supported by the charity having their own One Page Profile within the year.

Every guest was also given training on how to develop One Page Profiles, by Louise Close, from Helen Sanderson Associates. This training saw many of the supported housing providers at the event commit to exploring the use of the tool in their organisation.

At the event, Community Integrated Care also agreed to become a member of Sitra and to support the organisation and its members on their journey to deliver more person-centred housing support.

Vic Rayner, says: “Sitra are delighted at the way in which the supported housing sector has risen to the One Page Profile Challenge. Providers from across the country have joined us to take this important first step towards personalisation. Through this work, we have been able to identify existing excellent practice, support others to produce one page profiles and encourage a whole host of new champions who have committed to take this first step to personalisation within their organisations. As of today, we have been able to identify nearly 10,000 profiles in use within the sector! Great start. The work will continue. We couldn’t have done any of this without the support of Helen Sanderson Associates, and were delighted to be able to jointly host this event with our newest member, Community Integrated Care”

Catherine Murray-Howard, Deputy Chief Executive of Community Integrated Care, says, “At Community Integrated Care, we believe that we can only deliver the best services to the people we support, if we work in close collaboration with both the individual supported and their housing provider. Through care providers and housing providers both adopting One Page Profiles, we will share a common understanding of the people we support and be able to work together more effectively. We would like to commend Sitra for their inspirational support of this initiative.”

Helen Sanderson, Chief Executive of Helen Sanderson Associates, says: “One Page Profile’s have made a difference to countless organisations and individuals across the health and social care sector, facilitating better services and more productive relationships. Sitra have recognised the power of this simple tool and passionately believe in the potential it has for enhancing the service received by tenants of supported housing services. We would like to thank Community Integrated Care, Sitra and all of the housing providers who took part in this event, for their time and consideration.”