Almost five thousand people every month set to benefit from better advice on independent living in Wales

On June 9th and 10th, Trusted Assessing and Care Training (TACT) ran two free full taster sessions of our Trusted Advisor course in South Wales. The course is designed to upskill staff involved in providing information and advice about equipment for independent living. Accredited at level two, the one-day course covers a range of topics including an introduction to health and social care, communicating with older and disabled people and providing advice on common solutions and how to access them. The courses were hosted at Care and Repair Cymru’s head office in Cardiff and TACT’s Occupational Therapist (OT) trainers led the two full-day sessions.

Twenty-six staff from a variety of organisations took part in the courses including staff from charities based in Wales providing community services such as Care and Repair Cymru’s regional home improvement agencies and Age Connects Mogannwg. The learners included delegates from a handful of leading Welsh housing associations along with staff from local authority and NHS front door services based in South Wales.

A quick survey conducted amongst the learners makes a strong case for further adoption and expansion of the Trusted Advisor qualification:

• Learners across the two days of learning estimate that they personally provide advice to almost 5,000 older and disabled people each month (4,940) and that on average 74% of their advice cases includes advice about equipment for independent living. This equates to a potential reach of 60,000 people every year just from these two cohorts (24 learners completed the survey). 
• The most common methods of providing advice were (in ranked order) by telephone, email, face-to-face, web enquiry, social media and community engagement.
• 92% stated that their confidence in handling these type of enquiries had improved, with all learners saying they are now either fairly confident or very confident.
• 100% of respondents that answered (24) said that they would recommend the course to others.

The majority of learners concluded that they now have a good understanding of common health conditions, they can communicate effectively with older and disabled people and can now describe a range of typical independent living equipment solutions. They can identify risk factors and can confidently describe the main roles in health and social care.

Some of the comments show how the learning will impact on their work:

‘Thank you! This will absolutely enhance the support I offer clients with dementia.’

‘I am now more confident in small aids and equipment and also have more signposting options and knowledge.’

 ‘Great course, I would now like to be a Trusted Assessor.’

After the course, learners complete their homework assignment to demonstrate learning and gain accreditation and TACT’s OTs are on hand to provide support if needed.

The role of Trusted Advisor was created to improve the quality of advice provided to older and disabled people about independent living equipment. The role aims to identify immediate solutions for independent living, reducing waiting times for help and sometimes the need for a fuller assessment. People with needs can be directed towards the most suitable services and in some cases will be able to act on the advice including self-purchasing common aids. Trusted Assessors and OTs who are trained to handle full assessments can then follow up where needed.

The TACT team are delighted with the feedback and potential impact of this project in Wales. As OTs we are passionate about broadening the range of roles able to advise and assess for independent living equipment and home adaptations to improve lives and speed up access to solutions.

---

For more details about the course which is available as a one-day face-to-face course or via eLearning, read the details on their webpage (opens new window), call them on 01626 879528 or email info@trustedassessing.com.

TACT is proud to sponsor the Housing LIN’s pages on Inclusive Design.