Self-neglect is when a person is unable or unwilling to look after themselves or their day‑to‑day needs.
Hoarding is when someone collects and keeps large amounts of items, making their home unsafe or difficult to live in.
What self-neglect or hoarding might look like
Personal care and health – not looking after hygiene, clothing, diet, medical needs or substance use.
Social isolation – withdrawing from others and becoming increasingly alone.
Living conditions – unsafe, cluttered or unclean home environments that are hard to live in.
Refusing help – turning down support, care services or health appointments.
Self‑neglect and hoarding are complex issues, and people often need support from more than one service. Adult Social Care works together with the Fire Service, Housing, Environmental Health, Mental Health Services to understand someone's situation, build trust, and agree small, manageable steps that can improve health, safety and wellbeing.
The focus is always on supporting, enabling and empowering the individual to make positive changes at their own pace.
Enablement Coordinators
Enablement Coordinators work alongside adults living with hoarding tendencies.
They:
- use a mix of practical and interpersonal skills like empathy and understanding in order to build trust with the individuals that they are working with
- liase with local organisations such as, the fire service, primary health service, GPS, housing mental health and local charities to support individuals to move on from hoarding.
- put plans in place for the individual to keep their environment safe and support them to connect with their local community and activities of their interest to ensure continued wellbeing
- form a part of the local hoarding panel in order to provide practical feedback and case direction