The benefits of utilising a multi-agency approach for hoarding clients

Very often individuals with hoarding disorder can be working with multiple agencies at one given time, to get the most positive outcome for the client it is crucial to implement a multi-agency approach.

Each agency will include insight from their services and work together to create a sustainable action plan, with the clients needs at the centre, ensuring everyone is working to achieve the same outcome.

Here at Clouds End CiIC we refer to this approach as ‘Supportive Intervention ™️’, below we explore in more detail the benefits it has and why every agency should get on board –

peoples hand in a circle to signify a multi-agency approach

Here at Clouds End CIC we refer to this approach as ‘Supportive Intervention ™️’

Below we explore in more detail the benefits it has and why every agency should get on board –

1. Comprehensive Assessment:

One of the primary advantages of a multi-agency approach is the ability to conduct comprehensive assessments. Different agencies bring unique perspectives and expertise to the table, ensuring a thorough understanding of an individual’s needs, challenges, and strengths. By working together it especially helps services involved who may not be involved personally or hands on with hoarding clients, such as landlords/estate agents, housing officers, clearance agencies. It will help ensure they deal with clients in the correct manner for their needs while also being able to get their job done.

2. Holistic Intervention:

By pooling resources and knowledge, a multi-agency team can develop holistic intervention plans, which is what we here at Clouds End promote as the only way to approach and work with hoarding clients.

This approach considers not only immediate issues posed by the hoard but reasoning behind it which is the reason an individual started collecting. The items held onto are never the problem, it is a traumatic or life altering experience which usually manifests into hoarding disorder, and the only way to ensure you get the most positive long term outcome is by establishing and working through this. This is again really important for the industries who are not involved with the client but mainly the issues related to the hoard to understand.

3. Tailored Services:

Different agencies bring specialised skills to the collaborative effort, this diversity allows for the tailoring of services to meet the unique and varied needs of clients. This is very important as each hoarding case is different and there is no one size fits all approach to getting a handle on the disorder.

As well as bringing their own skills to the table, each agency involved can share their facilities, technology, or personnel, leading to cost-effectiveness and a more sustainable allocation of resources and time.

4. Enhanced Prevention and Early Intervention:

We find a lot of individuals who suffer with hoarding disorder are passed from pillar to post before they come into contact with the correct level of support for their needs, the collaborative nature of multi-agency approaches allow for early identification of issues and timely interventions, meaning a reduction in wasted services and ensuring clients get the correct holistic approach from the start.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for individuals with hoarding disorder / behaviour to be painted in a negative light with lack of understanding from certain agencies. If all agencies in the local jurisdiction had the same set of guidelines they followed this would be significantly reduced as the right people could intervene as soon as issues arise and prevent further escalation / trauma to the client.

5. Increased Accountability:

Shared responsibility among multiple agencies fosters a culture of accountability, each agency plays a role in the collaborative effort, ensuring that no aspect of an individual’s well-being is overlooked or neglected. This is extremely important for hoarding cases as it does require a high level of patients and empathy, outside of the resources required to overcome the issues caused by the hoard. Everyone will know the exact part they play, which means no service can overstep the mark and jeopardise the outcome of the case.

6. Strengthened Community Engagement:

A lot of industries work in the same areas with the same people yet never communicate, multi-agency approaches enhance community engagement by involving a diverse array of organisations and professionals. The benefits from this can go much further than just supporting hoarding clients, it can help develop working relationships to benefit so many other areas.

7. Professional Development and Learning:

Adding onto the previous point about strengthening bonds between agencies, this collaboration promotes continuous learning and professional development. Working alongside professionals from different fields encourages the exchange of knowledge and best practices, enriching the skill set of everyone involved.

This should also mean that everyone involved feels supported, not only the hoarding client but those supporting, they always have someone to turn to for advice or to discuss the part they play.

human hands holding up paper cut out figures of people

When supporting hoarding clients, a multi-agency approach is not just beneficial— it’s essential.

The collaborative strength of various organisations and professionals working together is the best way to get the most positive, long term results for clients.

Here at Clouds End CIC we have a project with Birmingham City Council using this model and outcomes show the benefit of such an approach.

Want to learn how to develop a multi-agency approach?

Our one day CPD Accredited Hoarding Awareness Training is focused around giving practitioners the knowledge required to successfully start building multi-agency collaborations. Focusing on four main areas –

– Understanding Hoarding Disorder as a mental health condition

– Supportive Intervention – helping to develop skills for supporting clients in how to help themselves to overcome their inability to dispose of their belongings.

– Collaboration with key agencies – creative thinking

– Partnership working – developing multi-agency approaches

The next public training is taking place on Tuesday 22nd October in central London.

It can also be booked in-house on a date that suits your organisation ( and any others you could invite to take park and pre-start the multiagency approach!)

Contact us for more information.

Full course information and link to book the last few spaces is below –

Leave a Reply

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.