Better Together information pack: 9a. How can we work together to support my family member or friend? - Applicable to Northern Ireland only

There are some other things we will do to help us to get to know each other better: 

1. Ensure that you meet us and we introduce ourselves to you to make sure you know everyone involved in the care of your family member or friend. 
2. Meet you and talk through the Better Together pack at the beginning of our relationship with you. 
3. Make sure you know what we will do, and how we will do it when we provide support to your family member or friend. 
4. Make sure you know important contacts, including the contacts of the managers who have responsibility for overseeing the service. 

You can help us by: 

1. Always telling us about what you expect from us to ensure we know that we are the right organisation to provide for your family member from the word go.
2. Helping us to develop a one-page profile for your family member to ensure we have a good understanding of what your family member needs. An example of one of these can be found in the How does Mencap support people in a person centred way? document in the Better Together pack. 
3. Spending time getting to know us, getting involved in meetings and conversations to tell us as much as possible about your family member. 
4. Helping us to maintain up to date records about your family member, and inform us about any changes to your own details. 

You could also write your own family/friend one-page profile to tell us more about yourself, which we can help you to do. 

We know that communication is key to getting things right. In order to ensure we effectively communicate with you as we support your family member, here are some key things we do: 

1. recognise the value of informal conversations and always remain open to talking and listening to you in this way 
2. ensure that we understand the communication that is important to you, and make sure that you are able to communicate with us when you need to 
3. invite you to participate in surveys and reflection events to share your views about Mencap and the support that we provide 
4. ensure that you are invited to meetings and appointments that you would like to attend 5. treat, and speak to you with respect and empathy. 

You can help us by: 

1. telling us what types of communication you would like to receive from us, and how you prefer us to contact you 
2. telling us if there is anything that you like explaining differently or in more detail 
3. telling us what you are happy about or what we could do better 
4. using our formal compliments and complaint process to give compliments or make complaints, and letting us know as soon as possible of any concerns (see the How can I tell Mencap what I think about the support my family member or friend receives? document for more information)
5. treating, and speaking to our teams with patience, respect and empathy. 

You could also get involved in What Matters Most including reviews and reflection events. See the How does Mencap support people in a person centred way? document in the Better Together pack for more information.

In order to remain personalised, and ensure that your family member is living their life in the way they choose, we will: 

1. ensure that your family member receives support that is personalised to them and meets their individual needs 
2. ensure that you are involved in developing and reviewing support plans for your family member or friend 
3. meet our commitments to your family member by:
   • always asking what is important to them 
   • making sure that we know who they want to be part of their life 
   • always listening to them 
   • acting on the things that they, and those closest to them, tell us 
   • supporting them to make sure others hear what they have to say 
   • respecting their privacy and confidentiality and not disclosing information they do not want us to share*. 

Our colleagues will communicate with you to ensure the support we provide remains personalised, and our records are kept up to date with what matters to your family member. You can help us by: 

1. getting involved in developing and maintaining the support plans from which we work 
2. helping us to learn from you, and your family member about their background, experiences, wishes, wants and needs 
3. sharing any further information about your family members’ history that might be important for us to know. 

You could also: 

• Tell us about any changes in family circumstances to keep us up to date. 
• Help us to develop a family tree or an overview of your family members life.

The people we support are encouraged to make their own decisions about their care and support where possible. We will support them to do this by: 

1. supporting your family member to make their own decisions where possible (even if those decisions are different to those that we would make ourselves) and give them the right support to be as independent as possible 
2. using the What Matters Most Decision Making Tool to understand needs and preferences, and best interests decisions to support them when necessary (see more in the How does Mencap support people to make decisions? document in the Better Together pack) 
3. being honest with you if we are unable to continue supporting a family member eg due to illness or changes in support needs, and provide support to you as we discuss options for the future 
4. discussing any important decisions with you and make sure we listen to your views. 

To help us, you can: 

1. Attend meetings about your family member where possible or agree how we can involve you in your absence. 
2. Help us to maintain your family members’ independence and involve them in making decisions. 
3. Tell us how we can make the decision-making process easier for your family member from your own experience. 
4. Talk to us if there is anything you don’t understand. 

For more information, read the How does Mencap support people to make decisions? document in the Better Together pack.

We are committed to the health and wellbeing of the people we support. In order to ensure that they are able to have happy, healthy lives we will: 

1. ensure you are involved in the development of information relating to the health and safety of your family member or friend, such as a Health Action Plan, Health Passport and Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans. 
2. share a copy of the health passport with you in case you need it.
3. discuss communication around health appointments, and invite you to attend those that you would like to. 
4. inform you, within 24-hours, of safeguarding incidents involving your family member and ensure that anything else that is urgent is communicated to you at the earliest available opportunity. 

To help us you can: 

1. Share contact details to use in case of emergency. 
2. Help us to develop a health action plan and hospital passport about your family members’ medical information and family history. 
3. Share with us how your family member communicates their anxiety and/or ill health. 
4. Tell us any anxieties your family member has about health interventions. 
5. Let us know if you have any concerns, however small, about your family members health. 

You could also get involved, and encourage others to get involved, in our ‘Treat me well’ health campaign .