Meadowmead Support Service - 5 Years On

2002 SeeAbility opened Meadowmead Support Service to provide an accommodation-based supported living & domiciliary care service for eight people with visual impairment and a learning disability in Eastleigh, Hampshire.  This was the culmination of a collaborative venture between SeeAbility, Atlantic Housing, and Hampshire County Council to offer a secure housing right and a specialist support service designed to meet individuals' housing-related, social and personal care needs.

'A Home of My Own'

All of the people who took up the tenancies of the eight one-bedroom self-contained flats/bedsits that formed part of a new social housing development, experienced for the first time living in their own home. The accommodation at Meadowbank, which is owned by Atlantic Housing, with SeeAbility as Managing Agents, offered individuals the opportunity to move out of their family home or a residential care home and the support service enabled them to establish a new lifestyle in the local community.  Seven of the original occupants at Meadowbank remain living there today, enjoying the freedom and security offered, with one new tenant moving in last year, quickly filling a vacancy that arose.

Changing Lives

The people using Meadowmead Support Service during the past five years have experienced many changes in their lives as they have been supported to take on the responsibility of managing their own homes, take control of how they spend their time and make links in their local community.

Some examples of individual achievements include:

• Two people can now travel to the local town independently accessing the bank, shops and café's.
• Three people have been enabled to have their own vehicles through motability and personal ownership. This has meant they can have flexibility in their lives and can plan travel and activities without the anxieties and time constraints imposed by public transport.
• One tenant who expressed a keen desire to find employment now has paid employment spending one day each week at a garage workshop and half a day at a "Mailing Service" where he collates leaflets for distribution.  He also undertakes mail-shots for local theatres and the church.  In doing this he has found fulfilment and a productive structure in his daily life.
• The newest tenant has been supported to develop the skills necessary to manage his needs as a diabetic independently. As part of this his health has improved through a more appropriate diet, which he is involved in by planning his meals, shopping and cooking.  This has also given him more confidence and his mobility has improved no end!
• All of the people living at Meadowbank and receiving support services from SeeAbility have been able to widen their experiences and develop new interests including horse riding, dancing, bowling, therapy sessions, cinema, attending football matches, local leisure centre for the gym and swimming, as well as maintaining their friendships and family contacts.
• One tenant is currently being supported to move on and purchase his own home in the neighbourhood where he will continue to be supported by SeeAbility Meadowmead Support Service.

Developing A Quality Service

Over the past five years SeeAbility Meadowmead Support Service have adopted a culture of continuous improvement as the trained and dedicated staff team have  strived to deliver a flexible, quality service. Some examples of their development and quality achievements include:

• Meadowmead Support Service has expanded its reach to provide an outreach service to people with a learning disability and a visual impairment living in the Eastleigh locality.
• Through SeeAbility's 'Social Inclusion Programme' two support workers at Meadowmead Support Service have received enhanced training in working with people with a visual impairment to develop skills and challenge the barriers to social inclusion.  An external evaluation concluded the social inclusion programme "has contributed greatly to enabling SeeAbility to provide a more unique rehabilitative service".
• Through annual self assessment against Supporting People Quality Assessment Framework (QAF) the service has evidenced steady improvement in standards, with their most recent external verification confirming they have attained levels A & B in the Core Objectives.
• The outcome of the Commission for Social Care Inspection's last inspection of the domiciliary care service in May 2007 advised a quality rating of good-excellent.
• In the most recent annual Satisfaction Survey undertaken in late 2006 with people who use the service, 100% of respondents stated 'they were satisfied with the service' and confirmed that 'the service had helped them to learn or do something new'.

To find out more about Meadowmead Support Service, please click here
1st July 2007