Film shows ways to help yourself

Titled The Future of Care in Scotland, the fim is the result of a joint venture between East Renfrewshire CHCP and the Self Directed Support Forum East Renfrewshire.

Self-directed support, in practice, means that those who are entitled to social care can receive support in a variety of ways and take as much individual control as they choose.

The film focuses on the lives of people who have benefitted from this work.

Attending the screening was Scotland’s minister for public health, Michael Matheson.

He said: “Self-directed support is a priority for the Scottish government and is about ensuring that people have the opportunity to take greater control over the type of support they want.

“That way they can live a full and active life and participate fully in their community.

“The Future of Care in Scotland film shows perfectly how SDS has transformed lives. Self-directed support is at its best when it is about working with people to meet their outcomes in new and different ways.

“It is about choice and empowers individuals to make the choice that is right for them.”

Those who attended the screening indicated that they had a better understanding of self-directed support and they were able to speak to those featured in the film about their experiences of taking ownership of and changing their care.

Councillor Alan Lafferty, ERC’s conveneer for health and social care, said: “Self-directed support is bringing about one of the biggest changes in care we have seen in decades.

“This film shows examples of how self-directed support has made a huge diffeerence to people enabling them to personalise their own care, and explain what support is there to help them do this.”