Bob is a young man with Paranoid Schizophrenia, Mild Intellectual Disability, and a forensic history
Bob had a difficult family situation in his youth and lacked parental support. As a consequence, Bob was vulnerable to manipulation which resulted in him being drawn into illegal activities and becoming involved with the criminal justice system.
Bob came to Iris Care Group in 2017 and was placed in Pinetree Hospital, our locked rehabilitation hospital for individuals with a primary diagnosis of learning disability and complex needs. He then transitioned to Ty Brynteg, one of our Ocean Community Service’s step-down community homes.
What did Bob and his commissioners want to achieve?
- To step-down from secure units and hospitals into a social care setting
- To develop life and employability skills
- To reintegrate Bob into the community
- To build confidence and develop coping strategies
What did we do to achieve these goals?
Working with Bob and his commissioners we set out a clear pathway for Bob to move from a hospital setting to the community.
We offered two models of care to help Bob develop skills and meet his needs: Positive Behavioural Support (PBS), and our Building Better Lives (BBL) programme.
Building Better Lives is a support framework for individuals with learning disabilities. In this framework, outcomes are focused on the quality of life of our service users. They work towards key goals in:
- Physical health and wellbeing
- Belonging and relationships
- Choice, control, and autonomy
- Activities
- Life Skills
The goals set are about improving quality of life, for example building friendships and relationships, making personal decisions, and keeping oneself safe.
Bob was supported to set his own goals that were connected to his own recovery priorities, and we provided a structured environment with activities to focus on each day. Empowering Bob was key to our approach, which we primarily achieved by co-production and working with Bob to own and maintain his personal programme.
This successful approach allowed Bob to move on to our Ty Brynteg home and to continue to develop his independent living skills.
Bob’s new team at Ty Brynteg actively encouraged him to access the local community daily and, working closely with local employment organisations, succeeded in providing him with several work experience opportunities to help increase his employability and build his self-esteem and confidence.
What were the outcomes for Bob?
Through the consistent use of BBL in both Pinetree Hospital and Ty Brynteg, Bob developed a greater understanding of his own condition and effective strategies to manage his condition long-term. Bob learnt to understand what risks he might face in future and how to put plans in place to manage these.
When Bob moved on from both Pinetree and Ty Brynteg, he was actively involved in the decision on where his next placement should be. Wanting to avoid the bad influences that had previously impacted him and having had such a positive community experience at his ICG placements, he chose to remain in South Wales. Bob is now living independently in a flat in Cardiff.
As Bob commented before he left Ty Brynteg:
“Since I’ve moved to Iris, my life has changed in every way, I can do more stuff which makes me really happy”
His commissioners were equally delighted with his progress through our services and were proud of Bob’s hard work. One commissioner commented
“The biggest thing for me has been to watch his progression through the services and to see him living independently in the community, able to hold down a job and able to plan for the future he’s now got. The opportunities the services have given him have given him hope, and they have supported him to achieve his ultimate goals.”
