How TANDEMplus Works

The TANDEMplus model currently comprises a team of five outreach workers. Once a call is received from a person who seeks support for themselves or someone else, the team decides who is best suited to visit the person and try to establish a personal connection. Workers typically do between three and six visits a day, using either public transportation or bicycle. Visits are usually done in the home but can happen in another place – for example a café – if the person prefers.

Staff don’t need to be medically qualified, although most previously worked as health professionals or social workers. The team has one psychiatrist available, but their role is only to offer guidance to workers, should they ask for it. Staff are not given a manual or set tasks to perform, and training is done on the job. Experience, personality, and one’s ability to form a relationship with someone is more important than any qualification.

The team work mostly in pairs, but sometimes move to working alone once they know the person well. Contact is strictly short-term only, ideally for around six weeks, although in some more complicated cases contact can last longer. The aim is to put a support structure in place for the person and then withdraw, not to become a permanent part of their lives.