Recruiting Shared Lives carers from minoritised ethnic, cultural and religious communities
When people supported in Shared Lives are matched with a carer who shares their cultural, ethnic or faith background, support can feel more personal, familiar and meaningful.
Shared Lives has the power to reflect the diversity of the communities it serves – creating connections built on shared understanding and respect.
We know that Shared Lives carers in England don’t yet reflect the full diversity of the communities they support.
With funding from the Hallmark Foundation, Shared Lives Plus has produced a new good practice guide on recruiting Shared Lives carers from minoritised ethnic, cultural and religious communities.
The guide offers evidence-based strategies to help schemes strengthen recruitment and build a more inclusive and representative carer network.
What's inside the guide?
This practical guide focuses on five key areas of inclusive recruitment:
- Recruitment tactics and channels
- Messaging and motivations
- Marketing materials
- Scheme infrastructure and support
- Recruiting carers to support people with dementia
It includes examples and learning from Shared Lives schemes across England, along with reflections from the Live More programme – our early action model of Shared Lives day support for people living with dementia and their families.
Download the guide
About the Hallmark Foundation
The Hallmark Foundation is an independent charitable foundation whose vision is a Britain where everyone can age well. It supports research, policy and practical projects that improve care for older people — particularly in dementia care, residential care and relational care.
This project was funded through the Foundation’s work on ageing well and dementia care, and developed in collaboration with Shared Lives Plus and the Live More programme.
