Living Well with SDS : Our Work So Far

An  illustration of the prototype resources we have developed

Following an initial six month research, awareness raising and recruitment phase, we have facilitated seven day-long co-design workshops. The workshops have brought together people with lived experience of younger onset dementia, their carers, social workers, community psychiatric nurses, practitioners, private sector support providers and providers of independent advice.

Workshops have covered the following topics:

Workshop 1

Getting to know one another; Finding out about Pilotlight and co-design; Thinking about how we want to work together; Learning about self-directed support – values and principles; Action Research

Workshop 2

Recap on Workshop; Signing off our Working Together Agreement; Learning more about self-directed support and the 4 options; South Ayrshire Market Place - local supports; Research Analysis; Barriers and opportunities self-directed support offers for Living Well

Workshop 3

Recap on Workshops 1 and 2; Developing our Pilotlight Characters; Designing journeys for our Pilotlight Characters; Hearing some self-directed support stories from Ayrshire Independent Living Network; Discussing and agreeing the themes emerging from our research

Workshop 4

Recap on Workshop 3; Thinking about what good information looks like; Starting work on our theme 1: Information; Starting work on our theme 2: Clear pathway; Hearing some more self-directed support stories

Workshop 5

Recap on Workshop 4; Starting to develop our South Ayrshire Community Asset map; Continuing work on our theme 1: Information; Hearing about the South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership’s Dementia Review; Continuing working on our theme 2: Clear pathway

Workshop 6

Recap on Workshop 5; Reviewing our South Ayrshire Community Asset Map and webpage and agreeing next steps; Reviewing our Post Diagnostic Support work and agreeing next steps; Starting work on our theme 3: Bespoke Support; Hearing about new developments with carers and self-directed support; Starting work on our theme 4: Support for Carers

Workshop 7

Recap on Workshop 6; Refining our post diagnostic support work, Dementia Toolkit and webpage; Continuing work on our theme 3:  Bespoke Support; Hearing more about support for carers in South Ayrshire; Continuing work on our theme 4: Support for Carers; Planning for our final workshop on 8th December

On the 8th December we will be holding our final workshop in which we will be reviewing our ideas and prototype resources. These include:

  • Dementia Toolkit
  • Post Dementia Support Visit Letters
  • South Ayrshire Council Dementia Web Pages
  • Learning and Development for Community Psychiatric Nurses
  • Carer Support Planning Toolkit

Key learning points and links to these resources will be available on the website in the New Year.