Inspiration and guidance so that people living with disabilities can organise their support
Collaborated with a co-design group and a steering group, including individuals with lived experience of organising support.
Took a relational, human-centered approach to designing the service.
Tested the self-directed support service with 12 participants.
The website is designed to be WCAG compliant and screen-reader accessible.
The Care Act of 2014 empowered disabled people to organise their own support, offering an alternative to institutional care and fostering community inclusion. Self-directed support allows individuals to access ‘direct payments’ from their local council, which can be used for home adaptations, hiring personal assistants, or funding activities and items that improve their quality of life.
“[I had to go] straight to kind of where where the documents were, and and and reading them, and kind of analysing it for myself” Codesign Participant
“The access to information is not clear enough. These are the things that hinder our access to seeking support and arranging support." Codesign Participant
"I still don’t know how direct payments work…The local authority don’t tell you. They don’t tell you." Codesign Participant
“I speak to other disabled people to understand how they understand their support.” Codesign Participant
“Somebody else has have that experience, and they will be able to give you the support.” Codesign Participant
"My support comes from networking. So if it's not a Facebook group, it's a WhatsApp group…That's the best I can do. Attend coffee sessions and things like that." Codesign Participant
“The responsibility of being an employer, the GOV the NHS don’t train people in being an employer. That’s the most frustrating thing.” Codesign Participant
“I'm running a small business. I'm doing the job of running a small business. So it's frustrating the amount of time it takes up unpaid time.” Codesign Participant
“To suddenly become an employer and suddenly be given this direct payment. Obviously because of my age, direct payments for children didn't exist. So when I was a child I didn't have a direct payment. Because but that didn't exist then.” Codesign Participant
I joined the project after discovery research to co-design prototypes that support individuals in taking control of their self-directed care journey. This project was a collaboration between; Care City, InControl and In Charge. All organisations with health and social care experience. The project was funded by The Health Foundation.
&Thrive is a platform that provides high-quality and clear guidance on how to get the most out of direct payments, and empowers people and their families to get the best out of self-directed support.
Inspirational stories showcasing how others successfully navigate self-directed support.
"Reading about others who have gone through similar things could be really uplifting. It's nice to know you're not alone." Codesign participant
“It's just such a steep learning curve, so many things to take in…having stories to read at that point would have been really helpful” Codesign participant
A buddy system to connect users with peers for mutual support.
Step-by-step guidance on navigating council policies around self-directed care, empowering users to make informed decisions and live life to the fullest.
“Clear guides - very important, sorting out the pension, something I have to talk to my accountant about. Skills for care.” Codesign participant
"Having step-by-step guides for everything would really help. It takes away the anxiety of not knowing what to do next." Codesign participant
An online community where people can get mutual support and information.
“Having step-by-step guides for everything would really help. It takes away the anxiety of not knowing what to do next.” Codesign Participant.
This shows the step-by-step guidance on the &Thrive site. It is designed to take really difficult to understand guidance, and make it clear and accessible.
&Thrive includes templates on things that people felt they would need. For instance; preparing for an assessment with a council can be a real barrier for people accessing the funds that they are entitled to.
“Reading about what others who have gone through similar things could be really uplifting. It’s nice to know you’re not alone.” Codesign Participant
People’s lived experience is at the heart of &Thrive. This shows the stories from people to gain inspiration. When people first seek self-directed support they can feel alone and frustrated with the system. Being able to access inspiring stories will allow people to understand what is possible.
As part of this project, I created a simple brand for &Thrive, which was codesigned with participants. The name was chosen by the codesign and the steering group, as were the brand colours. The principles behind the &Thrive brand: simple, accessible, trustworthy, were developed with the codesign group.
Check out some of the other projects I've been working on.
