If there is no suitable day service, many families use self-directed support to build a week of their own: activities the person enjoys, with personal assistants (PAs) they choose. This is a step-by-step roadmap.
1. Picture a good week
What does the person enjoy? Water, music, movement, being around people, quiet?
When are they at their best? Mornings, afternoons, after a rest?
What health routines must fit around it: feeds, medication, positioning, rest?
What happens on the days they are too unwell to go out? Plan meaningful time at home too.
2. Find the places
Leisure centres, pools with hydrotherapy, rebound therapy, clubs, music and sensory sessions, libraries, cafés, parks and community groups.
For each one, check access, parking, a hoist, a changing bench or Changing Places toilet, and staff attitude.
How many people are needed, and when: one-to-one, or two-to-one for transfers, personal care or travel?
Do you need a PA who drives? Whose vehicle, and whose insurance?
Which clinical tasks will PAs do, such as feeding, suction or emergency medication? Each needs training and insurance cover.
Ask for the assessed support, including two-to-one and driving, to be written into the support plan and budget. With a Direct Payment (Option 1), you can employ PAs yourself.
4. Advertise for PAs
Change the words in [brackets]. Do not include private health details in an advert: describe the support, not the diagnosis.
Personal Assistant / Support Worker [and Driver]
[Area]
We are looking for [one / two] kind, reliable Personal Assistants to support [a young man / woman / person] with complex needs to enjoy an active life in the community. [Support is two-to-one, working alongside a family member or another PA.]
Hours: [days and times, e.g. weekday daytimes and one evening a week]
Pay: £[rate] per hour
Employer: an individual employer, through self-directed support
What you will do:
- Support [him / her / them] at activities such as [swimming, hydrotherapy, clubs, leisure centre]
- [Drive to and from activities in the family vehicle]
- Help with personal care, eating and drinking, and safe moving and handling using hoists and equipment
- Learn and respond to the way [he / she / they] communicate[s] without words
Essential:
- Kind, patient, reliable and punctual
- Willing to give personal care and learn to use hoists and equipment (full training given)
- [Full UK driving licence]
- Willing to join or already a member of the PVG scheme
Desirable:
- Experience of care or support work, or of supporting someone with complex needs
Full induction and training provided.
To apply, email [email address] with your name, a short note about yourself and any relevant experience. Two references required.
Where to advertise: the Personal Assistant jobs section of myjobscotland, local carers' and additional support needs groups, and college and university job boards (students in nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and education often want PA work).
5. Interview and check
Questions that help:
Tell us about a time you supported someone who could not tell you what they needed. How did you work it out?
How would you feel about giving personal care? What would you do to protect the person's dignity?
What would you do if the person seemed unwell or had a seizure while you were out?
How do you feel about routines that repeat every week?
This is a two-to-one role. How do you work alongside someone else?
What would make you want to stay in a job like this?
PVG: use Disclosure Scotland's checker to see whether the role needs PVG membership: mygov.scot/check-role-needs-pvg. It is a legal requirement to join the scheme to do a regulated role, and membership lasts five years.
References: ask for two, and follow them up by phone.
Right to work: check the person's right to work in the UK before they start.
Invite your preferred candidate for a paid trial shift before offering the job.
6. Contract, insurance and payroll
Give a written contract: hours, pay, duties, holidays, sickness and notice.