The role of adult safeguarding processes
The London Multi-agency Adult Safeguarding Policy and Procedures guidance advises that ‘finding the right balance between respecting the adult’s autonomy and meeting the duty to protect their wellbeing may involve building up a rapport with the adult to come to a better understanding about whether self-neglect or hoarding are matters for adult safeguarding or any other kind of intervention’.
An assessment of the individual’s needs is often the best starting point for responding to self-neglect, and where a person is willing and able to engage in an assessment this would usually be the chosen referral pathway.
Think family
A Think Family approach refers to the responsibility of all staff, across all services, to address the vulnerabilities of everyone living in a household, not just the individual they are working with.
Professionals must ensure that they consider the needs of the whole family and be responsive to those needs, working closely with other professionals who are supporting the family and ensuring information is shared appropriately according to the level of risk.
Do you need to raise a safeguarding concern?
Professionals should consider raising a safeguarding adults concern where a Section 42 enquiry and structured safeguarding plan could support multi-disciplinary responses to risk.
This may include situations where:
- the self-neglect is of a severe nature and the person is at high risk
- there are repeated concerns
- other approaches under care management have not worked
- the person is refusing support or is unwilling to engage with the assessment
- the person appears to lack insight into the level of risk
- there is concern that some other form of abuse or neglect is present