Home from Home Recruitment Drive

The Highland Council has launched a recruitment drive to enlist carers in North West Sutherland who are willing to open up their homes to provide short-term care to older adults while their full time carers have a break.

Adverts have appeared in local newspapers inviting interest from families or individuals prepared to become adult placement carers and provide a home from home service to people in need of respite care.

The Home from Home Respite Care Scheme, run by The Highland Council's Social Work Service, is one of a number of similar Adult Placement Schemes operating throughout Scotland and beyond.

It is being introduced in North West Sutherland following the Council's decision to close the three-bedded residential care unit at the Assynt Centre, Lochinver, due to the unsustainably high cost of providing the service.

The philosophy of the Home from Home Scheme is that carers will support individuals to:

Have their needs met in a respectful and skilled way;
Maintain their links in the community and, where possible, develop new ones; and
 Make decisions about their day to day living.
Carers on the scheme will respect the dignity, choice, independence and integration of the people they care for. Placements only happen when good matches are found and all parties are happy to proceed.  

Carers will have all been assessed by the Scheme's Social Worker and will have undergone relevant medical, reference and Disclosure Scotland checks. The Social Worker will also ensure they have the relevant skills and training to carry out their role to the highest standard. At the end of the process of assessment a report will be presented to an Approval Panel which decides who to approve as a Carer with the Home from Home Scheme.

Although most short breaks take place on a planned basis there are carers who, if available, may be willing to take an individual on an emergency basis. When matching an older person with a carer careful consideration is given to the type of care requested, and other factors like hobbies, interests, smoker/non-smoker etc.