For people living with mental health challenges, the right care, in a family setting like Shared Lives, can be life changing. Hope’s story shows how Shared Lives can help someone with complex mental health needs not only build confidence but find a whole new way to use their voice.
Shared Lives is a bit like fostering but the big difference is that it’s for adults who need extra support to live their most independent life. What makes Shared Lives special is the family-like environment that provides more than just practical support. It’s a setting where the people we support can feel safe, valued, and understood. We’ve seen how much of a difference that can make for someone, like Hope, who might have struggled with communication or building trust in more formal care settings.
Being a Shared Lives carer is a special kind of adult social care
Hope, who’s autistic and was nonverbal when she first joined a Shared Lives arrangement, says that living in supported accommodation where the staff change more often never gave her the consistency or the safe space she needed to build up a sense of trust. Without consistent, personal relationships, she struggled to develop her communication skills and would retreat inward, finding it difficult to connect with people around her.
But Hope wasn’t without ambition. She wanted to move to a new city so she could study at Uni in something she was passionate about but the idea of doing that felt a million miles away from being possible. Hope and her mum started researching all of the different things they could do that might make it possible, and that’s when they found Shared Lives.
Hope said: ‘I felt like I was going to miss out on them key experiences of growing up, moving out and having that independence. Shared Lives opened up a whole world of opportunities’.
How did Hope's Shared Lives carer help her to turn a corner with her mental health?
Everything changed when Hope was introduced to her Shared Lives carer, Steph. The family-like environment created through Shared Lives was crucial to her progress. Her carer was patient, kind, and, most importantly, consistent. In Steph’s house, Hope was finally able to feel safe enough to begin to communicate in her own time and on her own terms. Through everyday interactions and a nurturing approach, Hope gradually began to express herself.
One day, something remarkable happened. During a trip to the supermarket with her carer, Hope was standing at the checkout when the cashier asked her, ‘Would you like a bag?’ For the first time in a long time, Hope responded on her own, surprising everyone – including her carer. It was a huge breakthrough that marked the beginning of Hope’s journey toward finding her voice.
Hope said: ‘I needed someone who was patient and willing to work with me and not try to force conversation. The family-style environment of Shared Lives was really important to me.’
Hope's transformation from non-verbal to vocal advocate
Today, Hope is not only speaking but using her voice to create real change. She now speaks publicly as co-chair for the APPG for Adult Social Care and she’s an ambassador for membership organisation Shared Lives Plus, helping to promote the form of care that supports her. Not just that, she recently went to Downing St with the My Vote, My Voice campaign, advocating for disabled people’s right to vote.
What once seemed impossible – standing up and speaking out – has become her reality, thanks to the support of her Shared Lives carer and the nurturing environment that allowed her to become her best self.as
Why become a Shared Lives carer for adults with mental health needs?
If you have experience supporting people with mental health needs, becoming a Shared Lives carer could be a really rewarding step for you. Our carers tell us that it’s more than a just a job in care, it’s a lifestyle where you can be that consistent and patient presence that can lead to life changing progress for people like Hope.
As a Shared Lives carer, you’ll:
- Work from home
- Get support and training
- Extend your family
Get started with becoming a Shared Lives carer today
Could you be our next Shared Lives carer? You could provide a place of calm and stability to someone going through mental health challenges so they could recover and thrive.
You don’t need any experience to be a Shared Lives carer – we’ll give you all the training and support you need – but having experience in mental health care either professionally or for loved ones will give you a great head start. Get started now.