Who can help me?
The assessment stage
The planning stage
The last stage: arranging your care
The role of the support broker
Throughout the entire self directed support process, help is at hand. You can also decide who you want help from and in what way.
The assessment stage
In the assessment stage (see also steps 1,2 and 3), the social worker/care manager who has been assigned to you will guide and assist you to make sure your care needs are identified and your financial circumstances assessed.
The planning stage
You can make your support plan yourself, someone else can help you with it or someone can do it for you. You may be able to get help from:
• Your family or friends
• Someone who specialises in support planning (a ‘support broker’)
• A service provider
• A social worker/care manager
In short, you can ask anyone whose opinion you value and trust to help putting your plan together. This can be someone who works in social care, but what is most important is that the person who helps you knows you, your situation and your personal preferences well.
Using a support broker
Support brokers are people who specialise in helping others make their support plan. They can also help you with making arrangements, for example, helping you compare different options and finding solutions that fit in your budget.
We have written a short leaflet about support brokerage in Oxfordshire which you may find useful when opting for a support broker to help with your plan:
- Support Brokerage in Oxfordshire (.pdf, 1.6Mb. Please note, large files may take longer to download)
To find a support broker's profile, click here to be taken to the page with support broker profiles.
Checking and approving your support plan
Whichever way you choose to make your support plan, your social worker/care manager will look at the plan and check that it meets your needs and that the plan is also:
When the plan is approved, you will know that the plan is really going to help improve your current situation. This leaves you free to think about what care you really would like to receive and think of creative ways of fulfilling your needs, knowing that your plan will be checked thoroughly before it is put into place.
The social worker/care manager also ensures your money is made available in your personal budget upon approval of your plan.
The last stage: arranging your care
As soon as your support plan has been approved, your personal budget becomes available and your support can be arranged. To do this, you can choose to arrange your care yourself, with the help of family or friends, or with the help of a support broker.
To find a support broker's profile, click here to be taken to the page with support broker profiles.
