‘Behind Closed Doors: Suffolk Hoarding Conference’

Author: Samantha Richardson – Hoarding Training and Development Officer

On Thursday 9th October, the Compulsive Hoarding Project attended ‘Behind Closed Doors: The Suffolk Hoarding conference’.  The conference was reported on in the East Anglian Daily Times here.  The day had been organised by Orbit Care and Repair and Lofty Heights, a local Social Enterprise that provide employment and training to young NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training), whilst providing a loft clearance service to vulnerable people. This work has recently extended to include working with individuals with a tendency to hoard.

The conference was opened by Mike Scarlett, Orbit’s Home Improvement Agency Business Manager, and Samantha Richardson, Hoarding Training and Development Officer, from Orbit’s Compulsive Hoarding Project. Mike explained the aims of the conference; to look into the development of a Suffolk-wide hoarding strategy whilst Samantha gave a brief overview of Hoarding Disorder (HD), the impact on individuals and associated risks before highlighting the known (and unknown) economic and social impact of hoarding.

The second speaker was Ian Bitcom, from the Chief Fire Officers Association. Ian described, in great detail, the fire risks that hoarding poses to individuals and fire and rescue services, when responding in emergency situations. Further information about hoarding and fire risk can be accessed, here and here.

The Lofty Heights’ Performance

Ian was followed by Olive Quinton from Lofty Heights who explained what a ‘social enterprise’ is; essentially an organisation that charges customers and consumers for the products and services they provide however, unlike ‘for profit’ or commercial organisations, where a percentage of the organisations profits are paid to share holders, any profits made are reinvested in the business to achieve a ‘social good’. Olive went on to describe the services that they offer in the area through an in-depth case study before the Lofty Heights team brought to life their day to day working practices through a small, but very effective, performance.

Matthew Morris from Stepping Stones was the fourth speaker. He posed the question (paraphrased);

‘is diagnosis and the labelling of clients helpful?’

Matthew Morris, Stepping Stones

The argument Matthew made was that current diagnosis and labelling often ‘misses’ the situational factors and life journeys that provides every person with a frame of reference, and that all of these factors contribute to the formation of the individual and their situation. Matthew argued that often the key to finding effective resolutions is not one treatment over another but the skills of the care giver, therapist or support worker. In particular, interpersonal skills like empathy, understanding, compassion and patience and therefore suggested those providing support work with the person they have in front of them, rather than the label.

Following the theme of person-centred approaches, Matthew was followed by Samantha Richardson who conducted a group wide activity based around Law et al’s Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) model. The PEO model was developed to aid occupational therapists in understanding a client’s occupational performance and the relationship between the person, their environment and occupation. When applying the model to a client with hoarding tendencies, it can help identify the contributory factors to the individual’s unique situation and help identify and barriers or challenges that may hinder therapeutic progress, subsequently informing the development of an intervention plan. The activity also highlighted the importance of multi-agency working in order to support the client to find satisfactory resolutions.

Dawn Helps, Circle Housing

After lunch, Dawn Helps, Neighbourhoods Manager from Circle Housing Group, took to the stage to introduce and talk through the development of the London Borough of Merton Hoarding Protocol. Dawn explained that, despite not having any additional funding to work with individuals and families, they all ‘share’ case loads, pulling on each organisations’ specialism as and when required.

The day concluded with a World Café session run by Jane Shaw, Director and Founder of Serious Development Ltd, which gave everyone the opportunity to contribute and start a Suffolk-wide conversation, pictured below.  The question asked was:

‘What do you think should be considered in developing a strategy for Suffolk?’

World Cafe contributions – where now for Suffolk?

All responses are currently in the process of being collated for the purpose of being presented at a follow up meeting arranged for the 5th November 2014.

An apology, an introduction and an update

This blog post will begin with an apology, an introduction and I will then update you on the progress that has been made on the project since the last post.

Apologies

First of all, the apology, it has been some time since the Compulsive Hoarding Project blog has been updated (11 months in fact).  Roland was incredibly busy completing the final stages of the project and launching the Toolkit and training program; it left very little time for blog updates.

Introduction

As you can probably tell, Roland is not writing this blog. In July 2013, following the Toolkit launch, Roland left the organisation to pursue his career elsewhere (in which I am certain he will be very successful).  I, Samantha Richardson, was appointed Hoarding Training and Development Officer in August 2013.  You can read more about me at the bottom of the page, aptly entitled “About me”.

Update

A great deal has happened since the last blog post both on the project and in the external environment.

The project group conducted competitor analysis, looked into the best ways of marketing the Toolkit and dealt with the legal aspects, such as, protecting the product through copy right.

Roland continued developing the Toolkit by applying the applications of the principles and approaches gained from literature review and service evaluation with people who compulsively hoard, which were carried out in the earlier stages of the project.  Jo Dowdeswell, our OT placement student at the time (who still very generously volunteers on the project), designed two new intervention tools which were incorporated into the Toolkit.

In May 2013, Hoarding Disorder was re-classified as a condition in its own right under the US Diagnostic Statistic Manual-V (DSM-V) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).  Whilst these changes have taken place within the external environment, it is important to note that the National Health Service, generally, uses the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) system to diagnose mental health conditions rather than the US DSM-V.  The DSM-V may, however, have an influence on the new ICD-11 which is currently being updated and under review until 2015 (NHS Choices, 2013).

Roland presenting at the Toolkit Launch

In July 2013, the Toolkit was completed and launched at an event at Coventry University’s Technocentre.  The launch was an overwhelming success.  Darren Awang, Course Director for the MSc in Assistive Technology at Coventry University, said:

“There was an overwhelming positive response from the audience of professional practitioners, managers and most importantly people that live with the issues of hoarding.  The KTP has demonstrated the real value of academic institutions engaging with the needs of companies like Orbit to produce outcomes that can really make a difference to people’s lives”.

The project was granted another two years funding, through the Orbit Community Investment fund, to fund a “Hoarding Training and Development Officer” post to continuously develop the Toolkit, deliver a range of complementary training programs, raise awareness of compulsive hoarding and develop improved service provision and partnership working throughout the UK.

Watch this space….

About me

I have worked for Orbit Group for over five years for Orbit Heart of England in General Needs housing, allocating social housing, and in Orbit Independent Living’s Young Housing Project supporting young people, aged 16-25 years.

I have also worked, in a voluntary capacity, for a number of women’s organisations on campaigns, raising funds for Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre and currently work for a research and campaigning organisation called Coventry Women’s Voices, developing and managing the organisation’s website.

I am extremely passionate about human rights, giving voices to marginalised and minority groups and improving the provision of services that these groups receive.  I started studying a degree in social sciences, part time, with the Open University in 2009.  However, as the full impact of the global recession began to be felt across the not-for-profit sector, with reductions and even closures of many vital services, I made the decision to change my degree to business.

I am really excited to be part of a project that can have a real impact on the lives of an under represented, and often invisible, group of people.  I hope the combination of my studies and work experience will enable me to drive the project forward over the next two years, with the support of Orbit Care and Repair and many other talented people within, and across, the business.

© Orbit Group