Exploring the difference made by Support at home 29 FIGuRE 5 EMOTIONAL SuPPORT AND LEISuRE ACTIVITIES – PERCENTAGE REPORTING A POOR SCORE BY SITE 26 41 Someone to 7 talk to 39 70 46 62 all sites Leisure 19 london activities 75 yorkshire 50 Wales northern ireland & Scotland 0 20 40 60 80 100 Wales (Figure 5). Over half of them (61%) There were mixed views about council services, indicated that they would like to take part in primarily around insufficient time being allocated more leisure activities – ranging from 33% to support them (service users) in the ways they in Yorkshire, to 44% in Wales, to 75% in want. There were also mixed feelings about London. calling upon family for help, linked to not wanting to be a burden on other people with busy 4.2.4 Access to help at home lives. Some people reported experiencing difficulty finding someone to give that bit of extra paid help Having help at home was essential for many and with the housework. the only way they were able to cope with life at home. As noted previously, 79% of the sample 4.2.5 Summarising the needs of service population reported needing help with daily users prior to Support at home activities (Section 4.2.1). For this group of people, individual circumstances varied and help came The findings show that a significant proportion of from different sources: Support at home service users (89%) have a need > 20% had access to a formal carer of some sort, in at least one of the areas explored in the study.17 for example, a social services carer coming There is some variation by site, ranging from 81% in to support them a few times every day, or in Yorkshire to 100% in Wales and London. social services support of another kind (e.g. intermediate care). Need appears to vary by the type of service provided. In London’s hospital-based “Next > 32% accessed another sort of formal help, for Steps” service the main areas of need identified example, a cleaner, gardener, shopper, meals on are help with daily activities (84%), need for wheels service etc. improving capacity to cope (64%) and need for leisure activities (62%). For the service users of 18 > 69% got informal support from family, friends Wales’ “Tenancy Support” programme , high and neighbours. levels of need revolved around the capacity to cope (85%), the need for leisure activities (75%), > However, 14% of those that reported needing help had no access to people or places providing help around the home. 17 We define the population in need as those who rated their physical, psychological or social capacities and resources as poor, a self-rating of 1 or 2 on a scale from 1 to 5. 18 Many service users in this service have housing difficulties and some have associated alcohol or drug misuse issues where the Red Cross is one of the last lines of support.