Janine, who we support, practices interviewing her own support team members!
At Lifeways, we know that people we support are our experts by experience.
This means - among other initiatives - that we make sure that each individual is enabled to choose the right people to support them.
That’s why Janine, who lives at Huntsman, our Liverpool residential service, recently prepared to interview a new support worker.
Janine does not read or write – but that doesn’t stop her communicating what she’s looking for in her support team!
To make sure Janine is empowered to contribute to a refreshed support team, Huntsman’s Service Manager Richelle Jones, alongside another colleague, decided to hold a mock interview with her.
“We sat with Janine, and practiced with her,” says Richelle. “Our practice included asking her to ask us questions.”
“This was a really positive experience for Janine and she is looking forward to the next interview.”
How individuals we support get involved with interviewing their own support team:
Why is it important that individuals we support can choose to be involved in the recruitment process?
Think of it this way: if you were hiring someone to support you to reach your goals – like a personal trainer, counsellor, or mentor – you might want to meet and talk to them first, to see if you ‘click.’
Also, if someone was supporting you with aspects of your life, you might want to have some shared interests.
That’s why to assist individuals to choose who supports them, Lifeways has co-produced alongside people we support an ‘Inclusive Recruitment Toolkit’ to make sure individuals can, if they wish to do so, play an active role in choosing their support team,
Our toolkit explains in detail how individuals have the option to:
- Create their own job descriptions and support team specifications
- Design their own job adverts
- Write their own interview questions.
Then, we make sure individuals can sit on the interview panel or interview in a way and in a place that makes sense to them - which can be held where they feel comfortable - to ask their own questions, so each individual can choose a support team that’s right for them.
Of course, individuals can have as much or as little involvement in the recruitment process as they wish.
About Lifeways:
Lifeways is the UK’s largest team of support professionals providing support for adults in the community.
We support adults with diverse and complex needs, including learning disabilities, autism, physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries, and mental health conditions.
As the supported living sector’s largest team of professionals, Lifeways’ extensive experience and national reach mean we deliver extraordinary support to adults, enabling them to live fulfilling and independent lives in the community.
Our 11,000 colleagues currently support almost 5,000 individuals who live in our 1,500 supported living and residential services across England, Scotland, and Wales.
Find out more about how we change people's lives at: www.lifeways.co.uk
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