One of the best things about social media is hearing directly from people who use Shared Lives and Homeshare, and their families, about their experiences. I am an avid follower of ‘Doris’, who tweets about her perhaps unique use of Shared Lives day support and a Homesharer to live well with a mental health condition. ‘Doris’ uses Twitter as part of her always-inspiring battle with the symptoms of dissociative mental health problems. She tweets about the things which don’t go well in her support as well as those which do, and both are equally thought-provoking. This kind of conversation can be part of how services learn and improve, and an accessible way in which people who use services can be collaborators and leaders, not seen as ‘customers’ or ‘clients’.
Given my last post on services and loneliness, it was great to see Doris’ message today:
@alexsharedlives After 3wks in Homeshare there’s a clear improvement in my health. Defo put this down to not being lonely! #Notrocketscience
Escaping the invisible asylum 