Living Supports

“Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one ; stronger that a magician ever spoke or spirit ever answered to in any conjuration.”
Charles Dickens

Whether home for you is living with family, living alone, living with friends, renting a home, purchasing your own or living in and contributing to your chosen community WALK is present with people in the journey and creation of a rich and full life with home at the core.

Our role is to design supports that are based on the needs of each individual. So whether needs are complex or otherwise the starting point is with you. Everyone’s journey is different but the commitment from WALK is based on the same principals of choice, rights and opportunity.

All people are connected in their quest to find that place of comfort, security, happiness and magic that is home.

Personal Story

When WALK met Anne first she was depressed from having lived in long stay institutional care for far too long. She had previously lived an independent life and experienced the confines of a psychiatric ward as repressive.
 

We met with Anne and talked about what was important in her life and carefully planned how we might support her to build and develop on her dreams. We were conscious that people who live in long-stay institutions, segregated from society, lose their individual and social identity, which complicates the presentation of mental health and behavioural problems. (Hubert & Hollings 2006)
 

Research shows that barriers to individuals such as Anne being re-housed within the community may include both the behaviour challenges the person presents as well as the ineffective support strategies that have traditionally been employed to remediate the challenges. (LaVigna & Willis, 2005)

Using a low arousal approach WALK successfully supported Anne through the process of deinstitutionalisation. She now lives with two other people in the community next to where she grew up. She has a part time job and most importantly she has reestablished links with her family and friends.

Anne is first to admit that she is happier now and that the challenges that were in her life before are now more manageable with the right support. Here is how she describes it ….
“I asked to make the move for various reasons including being close to my family and also to be close to areas that I know well and that provide me with comfort. The move to Inchicore has worked out very well for me. I am living in a house that is near to everything that I wanted. I have access to great transport so that I can travel to places I want to visit with much ease. This allows me to have independence to come and go as I please. The place that I live in is truly home to me.”