Exploring the difference made by Support at home 45 appendix b Descriptions of services selected for the evaluation next Steps service in london hospital (aged 18-65). It is a time-limited, 30 currently largely staff delivered 12-week service The service is based in King’s College Hospital offering advice and practical support on a range and supports the hospital discharge teams. It of issues including: provides up to four volunteer home visits over > Money advice, e.g. benefit checks, debt advice, a four-week period, as well as telephone calls reducing household bills to check the person is coping at home after discharge. > Help with moving home, e.g. assessments, sourcing appropriate housing, practical needs The service provides support to meet the needs e.g. furniture needs, accessing local services, of the individual. For example, accompany them education to and from GP appointments, prescription collection, collecting or assisting with shopping, > Practical help and advocacy, e.g. paperwork help to access social services and/or other and form filling, arranging meals on wheels or community support, and friendly chats and shopping services, liaising with social services, company. housing or health professionals on person’s behalf The service aims to provide time-limited care and support in the home for people after an accident > Emotional support, e.g. talking through or illness, giving people the confidence to continue problems, identifying information needs, with their daily lives. accessing befriending services care in the home service > Signposting to local groups and specialist support (e.g. mental health, substance mis-use in East yorkshire support groups) and accompanying people to these groups The service is provided for up to six weeks and delivered by a mix of trained staff and volunteers. The service aims to ensure vulnerable people The service can offer social visits and support are supported through crises and are made to for rebuilding confidence, help with essential feel safer, more secure and more able to live light household chores, shopping, prescription independently within their community; and collection, and information about other support to enable vulnerable tenants to manage their services in the local area. Trained staff and tenancies successfully, and have appropriate volunteers also provide help with changing anti- support to maintain and develop their embolic stockings, a specialist component of this independence. service, following discharge from hospital after an operation. care in the home service in the The service aims to enable individuals to be Southern h&Sc trust, northern promptly discharged from hospital or prevent ireland admission/ readmission for others by facilitating 31 independence and ongoing self-care. The service consists of an eight-week programme for clients whose needs have been assessed by floating tenancy Support Southern Health and Social Care Trust staff and referred to the Red Cross. Each service user is Service in Swansea matched with a volunteer and receives an average of one visit per week, which will vary in duration The service supports older people (aged 55+), 30 However, the nature of some of the work involved and the outcomes the refugees and patients being discharged from service is measuring itself against are, in reality, much longer term. This can result in the service supporting people for up to a year and longer. 31 Note the service length has recently been increased to 12 weeks in line with service user & volunteer feedback.