Hannah’s Story – The Pines

Hannah* came to live at The Pines four years ago. She had previously lived at home with her loving parents. Although Hannah lives with learning disability she is completely mobile and has good daily living skills which enable her to cook, clean and look after her parents for many years.

Sadly her father passed away some seven years ago and when her mother’s needs became to acute for Hannah to manage, she moved into a nursing home.

Knowing Hannah would still need some support the social services team help her to place herself on the local housing list. The Pines however was selected as the ideal interim home for Hannah, offering her support where she needed it, but giving her the encouragement to use all of her skills to maintain her active life style. Hannah quickly got into the swing of life at The Pines assisting with the cooking and cleaning and getting to know everyone in the home.

When Hannah arrived, the support team created a person centred plan with her, which identified what was important to her, her goals, likes and dislikes and agrees how best to support her.

One of the key goals was to maintain contact with her mother. The team ensured enough colleagues were available within the home to support Hannah one to one, when visiting her mother six hours each week.

Another was to support Hannah’s continued attendance five days per week at the local day centre where she occasionally joins in on the activities visiting older people out in the community where she serves tea and coffee. They made sure transport and support was available to pick up and drop off regularly.

During the spring of this year the re-settlement team made contact with Hannah to let her know that a home had become available on the housing list which they felt would be ideal for her. As a consequence a plan was put in place to move Hannah.

The support team felt it was important to ensure that Hannah was supported to make the right decisions for her about any new home and ensured she was provided with an advocate to help her with understanding the opportunity and the implications.

With plans well underway for her move Hannah sadly learnt that her mother had passed away. The loss of her beloved mother shook Hannah and affected her wellbeing. The team helped her through this period by sharing a booklet on bereavement and talking with her about her feelings. They helped her mark her loved ones lives though the creation of a special area in the homes memorial garden for her mother, father and a dear friend.

Gradually, with encouragement and support the team were able to help Hannah turn focus towards her move and the opportunities this would bring. Hannah has a clear plan and idea of what will happen. The team achieved this by sharing pictures of her current home and the new home, providing photos of the key workers and creating a planner of her visits.

Visits are a key part of a good transition, so the team ensure Hannah visits the new home for tea dates, sleepovers and planning meetings.

The team will be helping Hannah to re-create her memorial garden in her new home.

Hannah’s new room will be decorated just as she wants and the team have been busy supporting her with choosing and purchasing new furniture, furnishings and paint.

Hannah is now very positive about her move in just two months’ time and the prospect of sharing it with 3 others. She is happy and confident with her choices and is looking forward to the new opportunities available to her.

*names have been changed to protect privacy