Date published: July 13, 2026
Final report published as part of Shared Lives growth and development best practice
Shared Lives Plus has launched the third and final report in a three-report series exploring best practice in Shared Lives growth and development, bringing together key insights from ten Shared Lives schemes across the UK. Over the past two years, Shared Lives Plus has worked closely with schemes to better understand what drives sustainable growth, strong performance, and high-quality support across the sector. Through this engagement, we have gathered practical insights into the approaches that help Shared Lives services thrive and grow.
This newly published report, High performing Shared Lives schemes and carers, focuses on the practices that enable schemes not only to grow, but also to build resilient and sustainable services that deliver positive outcomes for the people they support.
Building on learning gathered through our annual State of the Sector returns, the report examines what successful schemes are doing differently across three core areas.
Creating high-performing Shared Lives teams
One of the clearest findings from the report is that sustainable growth requires strong operational teams. High-performing schemes consistently demonstrated investment in skilled staff teams, dedicated administrative capacity, effective monitoring systems, workforce development opportunities and clear internal processes that support long-term development.
Supporting and valuing Shared Lives carers
Schemes experiencing sustained growth were those placing significant emphasis on carer retention through competitive fee structures, regular fee reviews, tailored training, peer support opportunities, regular breaks and stronger co-production approaches.
“I think it’s important to have a good offer for carers in terms of the support and monitoring, sufficient respite nights to ensure carers receive a rest, and to really value the carers and make them part of your team by involving them in co-production, advertising and policies. Regular pay uplifts are a must.”
Strengthening recruitment to support growth
Schemes demonstrated that recruitment outcomes improve substantially when they adopt targeted, data-driven approaches.
Successful approaches included diversified recruitment campaigns, stronger community engagement, more streamlined assessment processes, clearer messaging, and improved monitoring of conversion rates throughout recruitment pathways.
This three-report series outlines six key areas for growing and diversifying Shared Lives.
To find out more about how Shared Lives Plus supports local areas through the Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) and our consultancy offer, visit our consultancy support page.
Ready to discuss how we can help you establish, grow, or diversify Shared Lives? Email us at consultancy@sharedlivesplus.org.uk
