Supported living networks

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · Amiran Dateshidze, Maia Shishniashvili · 1990

What it is

This is not a therapy. It is a group of supported living services: housing plus support that lets people with psychosocial disabilities (and, in some services, intellectual disabilities) live in ordinary homes in the community, with control over where, with whom and how they live. WHO describes…

Format

• Format and intensity (as published).
• What it is. This is not a therapy. It is a group of supported living services: housing plus support that lets people with psychosocial disabilities (and, in some services, intellectual disabilities) live in ordinary homes in the community, with control over where, with whom and how they live. WHO…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Certification and regulation. None of the four is a licensed or manualised programme a clinician becomes certified in. Hand in Hand assistants must complete a six-module course (six days of five hours) developed with Georgia's Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. Shared Lives carers go through an assessment and approval process with training. Formal regulation and inspection of Shared Lives in Wales was not…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• grouping by staff convenience. Affinity is the point.
• escalating rules after an incident. Review the incident with the resident instead.
• assistants taking over to save time. It works when residents start tasks unprompted.
• activities that are only group outings with staff. The aim is individual community ties.
• a supporter who decides for the person. This is substitute decision-making under another name.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.