Eligibility and Recruitment

We developed a thorough, transparent and fair application process, sensitive to equality and diversity and setting out the expectations of all parties in advance (e.g. contract, consent).

Eligibility

Eligibility for the project was agreed in advance with commissioners. MO Members were required to have a learning disability as assessed by Adult Social Care Learning Disability Assessment and Care Management, eligible to receive a service in terms of meeting the East Sussex eligibility criteria and be ordinary resident in East Sussex and therefore the funded responsibility of East Sussex County Council.

Recruitment

We wanted to ensure the project received a high profile and attract referrals/self-referrals of motivated individuals and groups. We developed and published MO Project marketing material to people with learning disabilities, families, care managers and services.

We endeavoured to reach as far as possible with initial information and invitations through the following methods:

• We sent out initial e-mails and postal information to as many service providers in East Sussex as we could find. Issues with data protection meant that we could not obtain a contact list from Adult Social Care. Information was provided for Adult Social Care to distribute to their database.
• Families and individuals with learning disabilities were reached through an article and flyer included with the Partnership Board newsletter.
• A film was created to explain and show individuals what being a MO member would actually mean – this was shown when we visited those organisations who took us up on our offer of attending a gathering of potentially interested people. Feedback told us that the film was considered an accessible and successful way of introducing MO.

We uploaded the video to YouTube and publicised the URL with our marketing material, including flyers distributed at events such as the Care for the Carers Focus Group (where we spoke in person), the Partnership Board, the Parent Carers Transition Sub-Group, and through informal opportunities we encountered and created across East Sussex.

We made good use of East Sussex contacts and support was given through the commissioning team and the Providers forum to spread the word about the intentions of the project. We also targeted organisations and individuals known to us for personal or referred recommendations.

Recruitment continued up to and including June and we extended the deadlines to enable individuals to come forward when the time was right for them. Although there was an original period set for recruitment it became clear that some people needed time to consider the benefits and implications of joining the project. Therefore, recruitment continued well into June and required a great deal of flexibility around the process.

We also used our workshops and social events to aid recruitment.