Integrated Housing Support

Providing a range of previously fragmented housing support in one integrated offer targeted to supporting health, wellbeing and independence at home through:

The ‘Lightbulb’ service is a pioneering programme which aims to make it easier to find and receive practical housing support to live at home.

Lightbulb can help with a range of issues such as:

  • Keeping your home warm
  • Home security to give peace of mind and minimise risk
  • Avoiding trips and falls in the home
  • Aids, adaptations and equipment to help people remain independent at home
  • Signposting people to handyperson services
  • Advice and support to choose the right housing option

At the centre of the Lightbulb service is a full housing needs assessment – the Lightbulb ‘housing MOT’. Lightbulb Housing Support Coordinators will carry out the housing MOT and act as a case manager, sourcing, signposting and helping to arrange a variety of solutions in response to any needs identified. The housing ‘MOT’ ensures that housing needs are proactively identified and that the right support is offered.

The overall ambition of the programme is to maximise the contribution that housing support can play in keeping vulnerable people independent in their own homes; helping to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions or GP visits and facilitating timely hospital discharge.

Lightbulb is a partnership between Leicestershire County Council and the seven district and borough councils across Leicestershire, bringing together a range of practical housing support into a single service. The Lightbulb team are hosted at Blaby District Council and include technical housing and grants officers, occupational therapists and housing support coordinators.

For more information about Lightbulb, contact Tara Bhaur, email: Taranjeet.Bhaur@blaby.gov.uk

Download our Lightbulb case studies (PDF, 247KB)

 

Hospital Housing Enablement

Hospital Housing Enablement is a support scheme aimed to enable patients to settle back into a safe home as quickly as possible when they are ready to be discharged.

The district councils, county council and city council are working with NHS Partners to support patients who need help with housing concerns following a stay in hospital.

The scheme places a housing specialist within the hospital, to work with the patient and hospital staff to identify housing issues that are a barrier to discharge and then puts in place the right steps so patients can return home as soon as possible after treatment. It also enables ongoing support once they are home, including help with furniture and access to benefits

In addition to the benefits to patients themselves, the Hospital Housing Enablement scheme showed that it significantly reduced the cost of housing-related delays during the pilot phase of the project.

Download our Hospital Housing Enabler service case studies (PDF, 203KB)

For further information please contact:

Tara Bhaur

Lightbulb Service Manager

Taranjeet.Bhaur@blaby.gov.uk

 

Leicestershire Housing Services Partnership

The Housing Services Partnership (HSP) is a working group that consists of a wide range of providers and commissioners supporting the delivery of housing services in Leicester and Leicestershire. The Housing Services Partnership reports to the Health and Wellbeing Board.

The Partnership has a specific role for the identification and achievement of strategic housing priorities. The HSP will also oversee, coordinate and be responsible for achieving the city and county wide outcomes in relation to housing and health.

One of the strategic aims of the HSP is to bring together the overarching housing aims of districts and key partners and highlight the barriers and challenges faced and the initiatives and policies introduced to overcome those, going forwards.

The website www.leicshousingservicespartnership.co.uk provides a central point of information and a gateway for access to the relevant work and research that is being undertaken both by the partnership, and their key partners, locally and nationally (NB: this website is currently unavailable).

 

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