Reasons to be miserable, Part 1
Cultures in some support settings have meant that poor excuses that prevent people with learning disabilities from leading good social lives have become acceptable ways of working. These cultures need to be challenged and changed.
“What’s the point of making someone safe if, in doing so, you just make them miserable?” Mr Justice Mumby
Mr Justice Mumby’s famous quote was made in the context of a complex safeguarding case, but his question also poses questions about our motivation behind making decisions in social care. The issue is not just around safeguarding but supporting people in everyday life.
Are decisions being made in the best interests of an individual to lead a good life? Or are decisions being made so as not to disrupt the routines and systems in care settings?
Excuses, excuses?
From the early days of starting Stay Up Late as a campaign (in 2006) up until now, we have heard all sorts of reasons and excuses why people with learning disabilities can’t stay up late. Of course, the issue isn’t what time people go to bed. It’s whether they can choose what time they go to bed.
There’s a scene in the Heavy Load documentary where we launched the Stay Up Late campaign at a gig, and with no sense of irony, or planning, half the audience was led out at 9 pm by their support workers. At least the film crew captured it for the film. That was in 2006, and things haven’t moved on very much in our experience.
If there is a culture amongst support workers that they will be flexible and enable people to live active social lives and respect this as necessary, then they will be supported well in other areas of their lives too. Around areas such as relationships, finding the right place to live, finding work and those things that we say make for an ‘ordinary life’.
“They have to go home at 9 pm because they need to take their medication”
The list of excuses that support workers come out with is exhausting and frustrating, but we need to share it because these unsupportive attitudes and cultures need to change.
One of the most common excuses I’ve heard is, “they have to go home at 9 pm because they need to take their medication”, to which I always wonder, “How big are the bloody tablets that they can’t put them in their pockets?”
(I appreciate that there are people with complex medical needs who would need to get home, but this doesn’t apply to many people but is a convenient excuse.)
The Big Bedtime Audit
In Hertfordshire and Calderdale, social workers audited various support settings for people with learning disabilities by carrying out The Big Bedtime Audit. At 8.30 pm on a Friday, they turned up, uninvited, to find out what was happening in these places. They found that 69% of people were already engaged in ‘bedtime activities’. Such a finding is less exciting than some people may imagine. They were all tucked up and ready for bed or in their pyjamas.
Rob Mitchell, one of the principal social workers involved in this research, commented, “what’s not surprising is that we found out most people were ready for bed. What is surprising is that we weren’t shocked to find out this was the case.”
(I must also mention Mark Harvey and Elaine James, who were also behind The Big Bedtime Audit. It was an important snapshot in time.)
It’s clear it’s a widespread problem. Still, we have allowed a culture in social care where excuses have crystalised into reasons why people with learning disabilities can’t lead good lives, and support staff aren’t able to question why this has been allowed to happen. Not in many places anyhow, but gladly we know there are places where enlightened and values-driven staff work flexibly to ensure people lead good lives. We need more of these cultures and attitudes in social care.
Having a flexible approach supports people with learning disabilities to lead a good life but also makes for a great workplace.
Not having a good life is a safeguarding issue.
Instead of finding the reasons not to do things, they need to consider the risks of not doing them. What are the long-term risks of not having a good social life? We all know that it will contribute to long-term mental health issues. We must be more worried about that.
A good place to start to find out more is the book Lost Connection by Johann Hari in which he investigates the root causes of anxiety and depression and how a lack of connection and community is one of the main causes.
Reasons to be miserable
So here’s our list of some of the excuses we’ve heard over the years:
- “The staff hand-over has to happen at 9 pm. It’s when the sleep-in person arrives on shift.”
- “The staff like rigid shifts. It keeps them happy. They know where they are.”
- “It’s to do with the Working Time Directive.”
- “They need to take their medication.”
- “It’s to do with ‘Covid’ reasons and our risk assessment.”
- “It’s what the residents prefer.”
- “Budget pressures make it very difficult. We can’t have more staff on of an evening.”
- “We work to ensure meaningful activities at home for the guys.”
- “It’s for Health and Safety reasons. We need to keep them safe.”
- “They’re happy doing things in the house. It’s what they like.”
- “It’s too late & dark. The service users enjoy an early night, and it’s not safe to be out at night.”
- “They’ve been coming to our club for 38 years. They love it. Why should it change?”
- “The other clients go to bed early, so they go to bed at the same time.”
- “We have a 10.30 pm curfew. The residents need to be home by then.”
- “They all came in the mini-bus together. She must leave when the first person says they want to go home. Then they all go.”
The real reasons to go home early
In my mind, there are generally two reasons why I leave a night out early
- I’m tired and have work the next day
- I’m not enjoying the music
But the distinction here, whatever the reason for leaving early, is that I can decide when to go. I don’t have somebody else telling me what I need to do.
What excuses have you heard?
We’d like to hear what excuses you’ve listened to and what you’ve done to challenge them.
Or do you agree with the excuses?
You may work somewhere where you think these aren’t excuses but are good reasons. We’d also love to hear from you so you can discuss this issue and help us see your side.
How do we change cultures?
I’m confident that even those who most ardently push these ‘reasons’ would agree that it’s not how they would like to live.
So what is the solution to changing these ingrained cultures where these restrictive and often oppressive ways of working have become normalised?
That’s our ongoing mission at Stay Up Late. To change cultures and ways of working that prevent people with learning disabilities from leading good lives — drawing on the example of those support workers and managers who instinctively know how to create great cultures for the people they support and their colleagues.