Barriers to and values of home visits and centre based support groups

Valuable aspects of home visits

• Soon after the move-in it is vital to establish that practical goals are achieved.

Whether you arrange visits in advance, as meetings, or try and pop in on several people in an area may be dictated by geographical location, type of service and the needs of the client.

• Home visits allow clients to perform acts of 'normality' to guests (making tea etc), showing off the new home.
• Health and safety checks; assist clients to:
• do checks
• report discrepancies
• use or learn skills of home management
• a natural setting to open discussions about sustainability of the tenancy and making a house a home; enrol in a course if they would like to on maintenance or DIY for example.
• While we hope it not be the case, getting to know the neighbours can be fractious. Clients may need support in early stages of tenancy, whether as complainants or perpetrators of for example: harassment, noise etc and such issues may present themselves in the early stages, where a worker can usefully intervene.

Barriers to success in home visits

• Hard to evaluate how well the client is coping.
• Visits can be fragmented.
• Tenants are not always in when you visit.
• You can see more clients in less time if they come to the day centre/office.
• No set 'formula' for assessing what problems the client is having i.e. having to rely on information they disclose
• Power balance between client and worker changes
• Lack of communication between resettlement worker and housing officers
• Finding the balance between allowing independence and providing transitional support (dependency),
• Workers can feel powerless when things are not working out.
• Creates dependency in the client rather than supporting them to access support elsewhere.

Valuable aspcts of support groups

• A shared and similar experience can demystify many aspects of the resettlement processes.
• It addresses isolation, the chance for people to meet each other socially and without a worker present.
• Clients can feel 'dumped', especially after extensive support has been given prior to resettlement, this is a middle path to independence.
• We know that they are not alone if they have a support group,
• May give confidence to clients to access other groups following on from the support group.
• The group can be an information resource that will extend and renew itself, a time saving resource! People discussing things together may increase feedback on evaluation and service improvement. This can be a blessing, but requires a proactive approach that is inclusive and open to criticism. See more on complaints

• Clients may be reluctant to admit to the worker if things are not working out, whereas in the group they may have confidence in doing this.
• There could be feedback at the end of the group, which could be the chance for clients to channel ideas back
• If the group is client run, some consideration should be given to how it is going to ensure everyone's voice is heard, including those that may not initially be confident putting themselves forward.

Barriers to the success of support groups

• People who would attend, would be those confident and willing to sort out issues, rather than those who are vulnerable.
• Groups can be time consuming, require planning, may require staffing, are thus not a good use of time.
• Clients are often reluctant to attend.
• Clients have a feeling of 'being there in their new accommodation' and do not want to associate with the past.
• Creation of dependency on the unit/service.
• Discussion-based groups are intimidating for some clients
• Previous conflict may prevent people attending (staff or client).
• There are often issues around group trust, confidentiality and gossip.
• Don't want to admit failing or not doing so well.
• Lack of finances to provide outside speakers.
• Lack of new ideas.
• Peer group influences.
• Comparison of properties.
• Never know the numbers who will attend.