by Rowan Jackson, Head of Compliance and Safeguarding
The theme of this year's Safeguarding Week is Prevention - act before abuse. It is about changing the conversation from safeguarding being a reaction to something bad happening, to considering our culture and what role everyone plays to prevent abuse from happening in the first place.
Think about safeguarding as a jigsaw, many parts that are put together to form a complete picture. The picture is one of people living their lives, enjoying relationships, making good and bad decisions, happy and just getting on with life, just like any snapshot of any person.
When it is a picture of people who draw on MacIntyre for support, behind them, there is another layer. This layer should blur into the background, ever-present but never the star of the show or overshadowing the people in the picture.
Layers of support
Think of this blurred layer as every single person that works at MacIntyre: you, me, Janet from accounts, Michael who supports Mark to call his mum, and all of the 2000 odd of us who make up the MacIntyre workforce. Each one of these people is a piece of the jigsaw that prevents people from being abused, and only two of us have the word ‘safeguarding’ in our job title. This is because the most powerful and effective safeguarding measure is always to prevent it in the first place.
This week we have explored the role of recruitment, induction and training as these are our foundations of safeguarding. Recruiting people who share the right values aligning with MacIntyre's DNA, our induction that gives us the best possible footing to understand and showcase these values, and training that gives us the tools and resources to develop this into everyday practice and reflection. This comes together as a collection of employees. We can recognise what is right and wrong, what doesn’t feel right. We can instinctively do the right thing and act on it.
We have looked at how important it is to understand the many complexities of people, what communication looks and feels like, how the right environment and compassionate care can make the difference between someone living their life in their own home and community enjoying their rights, freedoms and opportunities, instead of a living in a hospital.
MacIntyre’s Co Pros have worked together to explore what ‘safe’ means, and how they can help other people to recognise what abuse is and what to do about it. There is so much power in this work - changing the conversation away from passively being protected to understanding how to protect themselves and each other.
The community layer
Let’s go back to that first picture, we have the foreground which is a snapshot of people living life, we have the background of MacIntyre support, but this is still a bit misrepresentative of real life.
What about the rest of the world, where is that? Let's add friends and family, shops, allotments, exhibitions, parkruns, pubs, market stalls, workplace, college, clubs, hobbies, buying a bus ticket and chatting with someone you have just met for the first time. This feels more real and this feels whole, but why is this integral to preventing abuse?
Risks of abuse
Sadly, it is a fact that people who only know and see people who are paid to support them are significantly more likely to suffer abuse:
- There are fewer opportunities for others to witness abuse
- People become heavily reliant on staff which makes them more vulnerable to manipulation and control
- There is a power imbalance, the relationship is inherently unequal and this means it is easier for a person in a position of power to exploit or abuse someone
- Where there is limited social connection, it is harder for a person to report abuse or seek help
- Isolation can lead to mental health decline and self-neglect
- People are reliant on staff for information, learning and awareness - they may not be aware they are being abused or they may be conditioned to think it is normal or acceptable
How connections protect
This is why we should shine the spotlight on MacIntyre’s Everyone Everywhere initiative that was introduced a couple of years ago and is now a conscious part of how people are supported.
The key message of Everyone Everywhere is about seeing ourselves, our organisation and the people who draw on our support as part of, and contributors, to local neighbourhoods. We know that when we help others, when we participate, and get involved, we feel part of something wider and feel valued. Everyone Everywhere reminds us all of the part of our role that is about connecting outwardly; that as an organisation we support people to start and maintain relationships with others, not just with those paid to support them.
This is so powerful. Through Everyone Everywhere people are more connected with those not paid to support them. They are rightly visible and present in their communities, meeting people, being heard, being noticed and valued. People are seen, thought about, cared about, and understood. So, how does this prevent abuse? Let’s go back to that list:
- More opportunity for people to witness, intervene, and report abuse
- People are less reliant on staff for everything so less likely to be controlled or manipulated, and then
- The power imbalance shifts because there are other people in their lives
- People are less isolated so the risk of neglect, self-neglect, poor mental health and other abuse reduces
- People can learn and become much more aware of what is right or wrong. When people have the opportunity to see and learn how others behave and are treated, they are better able to recognise when their own experiences are wrong.
Breaking down barriers
A community that doesn’t know or interact with those who may look, sound, move, think, or learn differently can be a risky place to be. Everyone Everywhere is breaking down barriers by helping communities recognise and value people’s gifts, skills and talents, and that every person offers value and can give rather than only receive. The movement is creating safer and enriched communities where people are not on the outskirts, but are one of the many parts that makes up the whole.
Communities look out for each other, and that prevents abuse.
