Self Neglect and Hoarding

Self Neglect

Self neglect is a complex issue and is often a feature in Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs). The Care Act 2014 recognises self-neglect as a category of abuse and neglect, which means that people who self-neglect will be supported by safeguarding adults teams, as well as receiving more general social care support.

Self neglect is when a person being unable, or unwilling, to care for their own essential needs. It can cover a wide range of behaviour including neglecting personal hygiene, health or surroundings, refusal of necessary support and hoarding. It can include:

lack of self-care to an extent that it threatens personal health and safety
neglecting to care for one’s personal hygiene, health or surroundings
inability to avoid harm as a result of self-neglect
failure to seek help or access services to meet health and social care needs
inability or unwillingness to manage one’s personal affairs

Wiltshire has developed Self Neglect Guidance and an accompanying Hoarding Protocol designed to help to identify the signs of self-neglect and how to respond.

The guidance explains what self-neglect is and the various forms takes. It will help to identify the signs and understand how to support someone who may be self-neglecting.

A quick reference guide to self neglect.

Self-neglect: Virtual conference hosted by B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW)

A Self Neglect and Hoarding Conference was held jointly by B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire Safeguarding Partnerships in November 2024. Recordings and resources from this event can be found below.

BSW Self Neglect Conference Resources

This conference held on 26 November 2024 focused on the theme of self-neglect.

"Don’t judge me by the chapter you have walked in on. I have a past and a future and not defined by my current situation”. Quote from Experts by Experience.

Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs), conducted across BSW, show what we have learnt and could be used to make a difference when working with people who self-neglect.

This is an opportunity to find out more about:

learning themes from local SARs
practical skills to assist when working with people with hoarding behaviour
promoting the resources to assess and evidence self-neglect concerns when working with an individual and their support networks
the Mental Capacity Act and Legal Literacy
health led case studies
the Voice of Experts by Experience

Overview of the conference

Morning session – AM Presentation Slides

09:30 – 0945 – opening and scene setting

0945 – 0950 myth buster quiz

Link to recording session 1 https://youtu.be/WGBaKCbf1Mc (duration 25 minutes)

0950- 1115 – Ian Potter Hoarders Helping Hoarders – session not recorded – presentation slides available here.

1130 -1230 – BSW SAR Analysis presented by James Sawford - see additional handout here.

Link to recording session 3 https://youtu.be/yUys3qezO2M (duration 1hr, 3 minutes)

Afternoon session – PM presentation Slides

1315 – 1400 – SAR Robert presented by Dr Michelle Sharma – see separate presentation slides here.

Link to recording https://youtu.be/7pMRYIUgjA4 (duration 48 minutes)

1400-1415 – Emily’s story – expert by experience – not recorded you can access a written version of the presentation Self-neglect - Emily's story - Swindon Safeguarding Partnership

1415 – 1445 – Welfare and Safety Plan presented by Faith Margle and Kati Wood - see resources links below

Link to recording https://youtu.be/I_XI4XqrQLw (duration 24 minutes)

Appendix 1A Welfare and Safety Plan

Appendix 1B - Welfare and Safety Plan Practitioner Guidance

Example of completion of a Welfare and Safety Plan

All of the relevant documents can be found via the multi-agency policy and guidance on responding to self-neglect

1500-1630 Legal Literacy - Mental Capacity Act presented by Tim Shearn and Leona McCalla see presentation slides and MCA resource below

Link to recording https://youtu.be/q74MfEiFV9Q (duration 1hr, 45 minutes)

Feedback – we would really like to hear your feedback on this resource you can do this by clicking on this link: https://forms.office.com/e/Zmz345ivTV

Hoarding

Hoarding is a recognised mental health diagnosis. It is the excessive collection and retention of any material to the point that living space is sufficiently cluttered to preclude activities for what they are designed for.

Those who care for someone hoarding often go through forms of mental health stigma, which can often set difficult challenges in their relationship with the person hoarding.

Hoarding disorders are challenging to treat because many people who hoard frequently do not see it as a problem, or have little awareness of how it’s affecting their life or the lives of others. This can lead to families and friends struggling to maintain a relationship with the person who has the disorder.

You can read the Wiltshire Multi-Agency Hoarding protocol here and find further resources in our Resource Hub.