Debra

“Debra was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia when she was 19 years old and whilst attending university. Due to becoming unwell, she was unable to complete the course. Debra become increasingly anxious and paranoid and she began isolating herself within her family home. Debra was admitted into hospital when she was 26 years old for 3 months. 

Debra began receiving support from ERCA in 2016 and the effects of her illness meant she had little enthusiasm, interest or motivation to engage with support workers and spend time out of her family home. Debra would initially only walk about 500 meters away from her home with a support worker and then return. Debra’s parents were keen for Debra to develop her communication and independent living skills.

Debra presented a number of challenges for ERCA staff; she communicated very little with support workers, looked for reasons to cancel the visits, would spend as little time a possible in the community and she would regularly end her visits within 30 minutes of them starting. Through consistent support provided by ERCA, Debra is now able to spend the majority of her 2 hour visits outside her home, she has increased in confidence and is able to engage appropriately with others in her community, she will sit inside coffee shops which she refused to do in the past due to her anxieties, and she will engage with her friends when out and about.

Debra’s quality of life is improving and her communication skills are developing. Through ERCA support, Debra has opportunities to leave her home feeling safe, make friendships and engage positively within her community. Additionally, Debra’s family members also receive respite from caring for her, allowing them to not have to worry about her when she is out with a support worker. Debra’s family are very happy with the progress Debra is making, and although they understand Debra may never achieve absolute independent living, they are now hopeful she will have a good quality of life in supported living in the future.”

Anon

“ERCA has given my mother a sense of purpose and enjoyment by taking her out to places she wouldn’t have otherwise got to. Given that she has a variable mobility and an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, mum’s wellbeing has been sustained above all the odds against her. As dad says after mum has been out with a support worker ” she comes back a different woman” ! Mum has 2 different sessions a week and appreciates the variety. Shopping, parks, Maldon, garden centres, museum, grocery stores, medical appointments and the cinema. Anywhere Mum chooses. This keeps mum active and interacting, not only with the kind and friendly support workers but also Society in general. She looks forward to her sessions and we the family benefit from the respite, safe in the knowledge mum is enjoying the support. Our wellbeing also benefits from the breaks and support given directly also to the family. We have used the service for over a year now and it has been our main support. We wouldn’t have been able to look after mum at home without the sessions each week. Without it mum ‘s wellbeing wouldn’t be as good as it is and neither would that of the family. Superb support at a difficult time with long term memory issues. Support workers have also been able to give us concern and identify changes in ability which is useful to feed into medical services. It is invaluable to have the perspective from them.”