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Shared Lives 

Shared Lives is an alternative to traditional forms of care. Shared Lives is a service that matches adults over the age of 16 who can receive support with the following but not exhaustive list of needs e.g. homelessness, mother and baby support, a place of safety etc. people live with carers and their families or spend time at the carer’s home. 

Shared Lives gives people who need support the opportunity to become part of an alternative family, this enables them to become part of a community, where they can maintain existing friendships and develop new ones to help gain confidence and skills to become as independent as possible and live the life they choose. 

Using Shared Lives

The service is open to any adult over the age of 16 who has a social care assessment that indicates they are eligible for, and would benefit from, the Shared Lives service. The service is also able to support people who self-fund their care and support needs. 

The support offered ranges from: 

Day support

Going to the carer for the day to share hobbies and interests both within the home and out and about going for walks, to the cinema, shopping for example. 

Short breaks

Going to stay with the carer for short periods of time to give the person and main carer a break. This could be anything from one night, a couple of weeks and in extraordinary circumstances for longer with agreement with all involved. 

Longer term

Going to live within the carer’s home for a few months to years depending on needs and for as long as Shared Lives continues to meet those needs. This could be a step towards living more independently or an alternative to long term residential care. 

The carers

Shared Lives carers are ordinary people from all walks of life who have gone through a thorough assessment process to ensure they have the right personal qualities; patience, understanding, compassion, willingness to learn all whilst also being able to cope in a crisis. They are required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check and they are trained to be able to care for the people effectively. The carers are self-employed and receive allowances for providing care, the amount varies depending on the level of support required. 

The Shared Lives service is regulated and inspected by the Care Quality Commission 

Contact us: 

For further enquiries please contact: 

Email:sharedlivesservice@blackpool.gov.uk
Telephone: 01253 476884