How to get involved
Let’s shape a great life for your loved one
Partnering With Families to Find the Right Support Workers
When we’re looking for a new colleague to support your relative, we want to involve you every step of the way. Your input helps us find the best possible match.
Beyond having the right values and skills, we make sure our support workers are well-matched to the person they’ll support. This means considering shared interests and complementary personalities—because building a trusting, long-term relationship is essential.
Here’s how you can help:
– Write personalised job descriptions that reflect your relative’s needs and preferences
– Take part in interviews to meet candidates and see how they interact with you and your relative
– Help us choose the right person for the job by sharing your insights
This collaborative approach ensures the person we recruit is not only qualified but also the right fit for your family.
Why Your Feedback Matters for Appraisals
To ensure our colleagues provide the best support in the right way, we ask for your feedback each year as part of their appraisals. This is your chance to recognize great work and highlight any areas that need improvement.
Everyone performs better when their efforts are appreciated. By complimenting colleagues for a job well done, you help create a positive environment and support your loved one’s success. Even small gestures of recognition can make a big impact.
If something isn’t going well, don’t wait for the annual appraisal. Speak up as soon as possible so we can address issues early and keep things on track.
Person Centred Planning
A Person Centred Support Plan describes a relationship between Discovery, a person we support and you as their family, friend or other loved one. It is active document, owned by the person we support, that lays good foundations for a fun, safe, ordinary life.
Every year, we celebrate the achievements and the life of the person we support through a Person Centred Review, which renews our understanding of what matters to the person we’re supporting, refreshes their aspirations and helps them to see what’s possible, identifies the things they’re finding a challenge and agrees how we can best support them to live the life they choose.
We’ll ask you for your close involvement throughout.
Groups and feedback
Each of our areas has its own way of working with families to meet local needs but some things are consistent:
Members of our executive team, board and other senior managers visit regularly to listen to families and the people we support.
Discovery hosts at least one listening event each year to which families are always invited.
We conduct a periodic, anonymous family survey, asking for your views in order to improve aspects of our support.
To find out how to get involved, contact your Locality Manager or Operations Director. Find who to contact through our ‘Local contacts’ page
One Page Profiles
If you are supported by Discovery, or if you work for us, you’ll have a One Page Profile.
Your One-Page Profile summarises who you are as a person. It helps everyone to understand what is important to you and how we can work well together.
It enables us to match each person we support to each colleague who supports them.
We love it when family members write their own one-page profiles too. This helps build strong relationships with your loved one’s support team.
The Family Portal
Have you signed up for the family portal yet? Contact your loved one’s manager to get set up.
The family portal, co-designed with families, provides you with a brilliant new window into the daily life of your loved one. And by bringing you even closer, we think it will help make our support better, too.
Daily diaries, photos, notes, health updates… whatever your loved one consents to share will all be in the family portal for you to review at the click of a button!
Not with Discovery yet?
Discovery works in many parts of South West England and our parent, Dimensions, operates widely across England and Wales.
Once your local or health authority has defined your relative’s ‘care and support plan’ and established your budget – usually a direct payment or individual budget – our team can begin to work with you. You may need to ask to be referred to Discovery.
We’ll think about lots of support options in order to best meet your Care and Support Plan and budget. We’ll work with you, your loved ones and the professionals around you; our specialists can help overcome particular challenges.
Almost everyone Discovery supports has a learning disability or is autistic. Beyond that, we support people with a very wide range of gifts, abilities and needs; from people with complex health or behavioural needs to those simply needing a few hours support each day.
Feel free to Contact Us
