Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) have just started a pilot in Fife – visiting and supporting a small number of people with hoarded homes to provide hands-on support in de-cluttering and making the home safer. It’s led by one of the Community Safety Advocates (CSA), Evelyn Taylor, who has scheduled visits with them every couple of weeks to build a relationship with people to make an impact on hoarding.
Ronan sees this as a really helpful move: '(It’s) been really, really handy that the fire service have agreed that that can be part of her role as a community-based firefighter .. and she's a member of the consultation panel and that allows us to have real operational foot on the ground when it comes to the hoarding related work as well as the strategic aspect of it.'
We caught up with Evelyn to hear more about the pilot programme.
'We are trying to keep people safer in their homes. SFRS requires householders to have clear access/egress routes (safe exit and escape pathways) and working smoke alarms as a minimum. SFRS also has a Suicide Prevention role, so working with people who hoard is about keeping people safe in more than one way'.
Some people have been referred to Evelyn by social work, have an ongoing social work involvement, or have been referred by the Fife Council Housing team to see what she can offer their tenants.
Taking a person led approach has been working really well, by asking about and responding to things coming up in people’s lives to help focus on what’s important to them. For example, one person was planning to have friends visit for dinner, so Evelyn suggested they focus on clearing the dining table. Another was going on holiday the following week, so was unable to focus on the house because they needed to pack a suitcase; she suggested that they pack the suitcase and empty their full wallet to make it ready for travelling. Working in this way helps to build trust, and offers choice and control for the person being supported. Being able to build on the high levels of goodwill that most people already have towards the Fire Service, has also helped develop relationships. As Evelyn says: 'Getting to know a person and understanding what contributes to their behaviours, like autism, or trauma and family history, as well as what their motivations for change are, and what tasks they find easier or more difficult to do, helps to make a positive change'.
What differences can be seen? The first person who Evelyn worked with has developed a positive relationship with their Social Worker, and their living conditions have improved because they have allowed space to be cleared in the garden and part of the house. They are open to continuing support, and feedback from a member of another person’s family has made clear that they feel more motivated to manage the stuff they accumulate after a visit; often continuing to clear items away afterwards. The same person reports feeling anxious before a visit - at the thought of having to clear stuff - but afterwards, feels good!.
This is the second part of 'Spotlight on Fife' with the first part exploring the start of the programme of improvements, and concludes with an evaluation of practice in part three.
