Self-Neglect & Hoarding
Self-Neglect
This covers a wide range of behaviours including neglecting to care for one’s personal hygiene, health or surroundings and includes behaviour such as hoarding. Safeguarding partnerships can be a positive means of addressing issues of self-neglect.
Addressing self-neglect can be challenging due to the complexities of capacity. Different perspectives from adults, professionals, and the wider public often influence what is considered an acceptable way of living and what levels of risk are tolerable. Balancing the protection of adults from self-neglect with their right to self-determination is a significant challenge for professionals.
Types of Self-Neglect:
- Lack of self-care to an extent that it threatens personal health and safety.
- Neglecting to care for one’s personal hygiene, health, surroundings or living environment.
- Inability to avoid self-harm.
- Failure to seek help or access services to meet health and social care needs.
- Inability or unwillingness to manage one’s personal affairs
This toolkit is for all professionals working with complex self-neglect. Its purpose is:
- To support you in assisting the person you are working with to enhance their circumstances.
- To provide you with suggestions for handling situations which you may find challenging, based on the experiences and insights of other professionals in Lancashire, who work with individuals who self-neglect.
- To ensure that you, along with all partner agencies, have undertaken every possible option to provide support and intervention.
- To help you piece together the multi-agency collaboration effectively.
- To aid you in making defensible decisions.
This toolkit complements the Pan Lancashire Self-Neglect Framework, which provides a detailed explanation of the definition, causes, and key legislation related to self-neglect.
Pan-Lancashire Framework for Self Neglect
Lancashire Self Neglect Toolkit
Lancashire Hoarding Guidance
Self Neglect vs Hoarding
Flow Chart for Self Neglect
Legal Interventions and Enforcement
Useful Contact and References
Hoarding Risk Assessment
Clutter Image Ratings