Our Sectors
Care built on relationships deserves software built the same way.
Shared Lives is unlike any other care model, and the teams who run schemes know that better than anyone. Unique IQ gives scheme managers the tools to coordinate carers, stay compliant, and keep the focus firmly on the people at the heart of every arrangement. Whether you run a local scheme or manage provision across multiple areas, everything you need is in one place.
Shared Lives is a community-based model of care and support in which adults with learning disabilities, mental health conditions, autism or other support needs are matched with approved Shared Lives carers who open their homes and family lives to them.
Regulated by the Care Quality Commission in England and overseen by Shared Lives schemes across the UK, the model is built on the quality of the match between the person supported and their carer. Relationships are at the heart of everything.
Shared Lives schemes are responsible for recruiting, training, approving, and supporting carers, and for managing ongoing compliance, records, and coordination across what is often a dispersed and growing caseload.
Shared Lives schemes operate under the quality framework set by Shared Lives Plus, the national membership body for the sector. Unique IQ’s platform is designed to support the compliance, coordination, and carer management demands that framework requires.
Running a Shared Lives scheme comes with a unique set of operational demands. You are managing a network of self-employed carers working in their own homes, supporting people with a wide range of needs, often across short breaks, day support, and long-term arrangements simultaneously.
Unique IQ’s shared lives software brings together the tools scheme managers need to stay organised, compliant, and connected, without the administrative burden that too often pulls focus away from people.
Our platform includes:
The Shared Lives sector is growing. According to the State of Shared Lives 2024-25 report, 9,898 people were supported through Shared Lives across the UK in 2024-25, with the number of approved carers rising by 13% over four years. Short breaks and day support are expanding alongside long-term arrangements, and the reach of the model is widening to include older people, care leavers, and those with more complex needs.
That growth brings operational opportunity and real complexity. Scheme managers need software that can scale with them, adapt to different arrangement types, and keep compliance robust as caseloads increase.
Our platform gives you a single, unified view of your scheme so you can manage growth with confidence, not spreadsheets.
Create and manage digital support plans tailored to each individual’s needs, goals, and preferences. Plans are easy to review, update, and share with the relevant people, keeping support consistent and carer-ready.
Manage long-term, short break, and day support arrangements from one platform. Coordinate carer schedules, track attendance, and maintain a clear picture of who is supporting who and when.
Capture daily notes, medication records, and care updates in real time via our mobile app. IQ:careaudit automatically reviews visit notes and flags concerns, giving scheme managers early visibility of potential issues before they become problems.
IQ:careassist supports your team to produce thorough, person-centred support plans more efficiently. Built natively into the platform, it is genuine AI capability designed for the way care teams work.
IQ:messenger enables genuine two-way communication between scheme workers, carers, and wider teams. Unlike one-way broadcast tools, it supports real dialogue when it matters most.
Shared Lives funding arrangements can be complex, with multiple payment streams per person. Our invoicing and payroll tools handle that complexity accurately, reducing manual workarounds and giving scheme managers confidence in their numbers.
We are actively building relationships across the Shared Lives sector. If you manage a scheme and would like to share your experience with our software, we would love to hear from you.
Over 20 years in the sector. We have been supporting care providers since 2005. We understand the operational realities of community-based care, and we build our software around them.
Human support, always. When you contact Unique IQ, you speak to a real person. No bots, no automated queues. Just straightforward, knowledgeable support from people who understand care.
Customer-led development. We actively involve our customers in shaping what gets built next. If something would genuinely make a difference to how you manage your scheme, we want to hear it.
AI built in, not bolted on. IQ:careassist and IQ:careaudit are built natively into the platform, not added as third-party integrations. Genuine AI capability, designed specifically for the way care teams work.
96% of Shared Lives carers and schemes in England are rated good or outstanding by the CQC. Maintaining that standard means compliance needs to be embedded in everyday operations, not caught up on before an inspection. Unique IQ’s real-time auditing and digital record-keeping tools are built to help your scheme stay there consistently.
Discover how our shared lives software can support your scheme to grow, stay compliant, and deliver high-quality, relationship-based support. Please contact us or complete the form below. A member of our team will be in touch as soon as possible.
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