The online training course will allow you to explore hoarding through the lens of mental health, applying this new knowledge to how we support our tenants to create safe and sustainable tenancies for now and the future.
For years, hoarding has posed challenges to landlords resulting in high costs, unsustainable clearances, and loss of tenancies. Historically it was viewed more through the lens of anti-social behavioural and ‘lifestyle choice’. Housing providers had a duty of care to protect their tenants and have therefore been left to try and manage the complexities of hoarding in isolation.
However, in 2018, the World Health Organisation recognised hoarding as a classified mental health condition, resulting in new clinical, social, environmental and legislative considerations for individuals who hoard.
This course will contextualise hoarding as a mental health condition, exploring the classification history of hoarding, the psychology behind the behaviour, the impact on tenancies, and bringing new best practice to the forefront of how we understand, support and signpost those with hoarding tendencies.
What will I learn?
At the end of this online training course you'll be able to:
- Gain an understanding of how tenants’ emotional wellbeing can impact tenancies
- Understand trauma-informed practice and how this can be applied to mental health
- Explain why people hoard (the tales behind the treasure)
- Recognise how traumatic experiences such as bereavement, eviction and poverty can relate to hoarding behaviour
- Identify the early signs of hoarding
- Initiate a compassionate dialogue for tenants around their wellbeing
- Identify different types of hoarding and how they fit into the new diagnostic criteria for hoarding disorder
- Promote a consistent understanding of when to escalate hoarding cases
- Use enforcement action in a compassionate way
- Identify potential treatment pathways and practical support
- Refer to current legislation and best practice around hoarding.
Who should attend?
All those looking to expand their knowledge on hoarding, allowing the expertise of a variety of delegates from across all different fields to be channelled. Hoarding is an issue that will invariably be encountered not only by professionals working in housing and mental health, but emergency services, social services, environmental health and local authorities.
Please note: The content of this course is predominantly England based; however, if you require Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or Irish content, we may be able to accommodate this. When booking your place, please let us know in the learning needs box on your booking, and we'll be in touch to discuss.
Benefits of attending
The knowledge gained on this course will enable you to write their own hoarding policies in line with current best practice, to use therapeutic tools with tenants to ensure that enforcement action becomes a last resort, and to understand proportionality in relation to hoarding disorder.
The course is delivered by Holistic Hoarding, who provide advocacy for their clients facing eviction due to mental health conditions and hoarding, giving you an insight into what the team look for when considering proportionality and protective factors.
Kayley Hyman - director of Holistic Hoarding
The basis for the Holistic Hoarding model was established over a three year period, where service manager Kayley Hyman undertook intensive research as part of an MSc in Mental Health and Hoarding Disorder. She is now due to start her PhD to map out hoarding service provision in Wales.
Kayley sits on the board for Cardiff and Vale Mental Health charity, and the UK National Steering Group for Hoarding, recently receiving the Women in Housing Award for her contribution to hoarding research. Kayley is a consultant for Cardiff University, acting as the public involvement lead for PhD research into hoarding disorder and self neglect amongst older men. She also set up the first all-Wales multi-agency Hoarding Task Force, bringing in agencies from across housing, health and social services to explore how we currently support tenants at risk of eviction due to hoarding tendencies.
How to book your place
You can book your place by selecting 'Pay now' at the top of this page and completing our online application form. You will need to sign in or create a 'My CIH' account. You can find instructions below.
Before booking, please ensure you have your payment details to hand, and a PO number if your organisation is paying for your training.
To apply for this training course you will need to register for a My CIH account.
To create your account, visit My CIH page and click the 'Sign up now' link to follow the steps to create your account. You can read our step-by-step guide to creating an account.
If you already have a My CIH account, just follow the sign in by entering your email address and password as usual.
Are you having trouble logging in or creating your account? Please read our step-by-step guide or call our membership services team on 024 7685 1700 or email membership.services@cih.org.
