Useful questions to ask someone you suspect is excessively saving or collecting.

Most people who have challenges with excessive acquiring and saving will be embarrassed about their surroundings so these questions should be asked sensitively. These could include:

Your Health & Wellbeing

• When was the last time you contacted your GP about your health and wellbeing?

• Do you have any family members, friends or professionals that help support you?

• Is there anyone else living in or regularly attending the property? Are they a child or do they have care and support needs?

• Do you attend any community, voluntary, charities or faith groups?

• How do you keep yourself clean? Can I see your bathroom? Are you able to use your bathroom and use the toilet, ok? Have a wash, bath, shower?

• Where do you sleep? Are you able to change your bed linen regularly? When did you last change them?

• Does anyone make you feel afraid or threaten you?

• Can you prepare food, cook, and wash up in your kitchen?

• Do you smoke?

• How do you keep yourself warm at night? Have you got extra covers to put on your bed if you are cold?

• What do you do with your dirty washing?

• How do you manage to keep yourself warm, especially in winter?

• Do you struggle with discarding things or to what extent do you have difficulty discarding (or recycling, selling, giving away) ordinary things that other people would get rid of?

Your Home

• How do you get in and out of your property, do you feel safe living here?

• Have you ever had an accident, slipped, tripped up or fallen? How did it happen?

• How have you made your home safer to prevent this from happening again?

• How do you move safely around your home (where the floor is uneven or covered, or there are exposed wires, damp, rot, or other hazards)?

• Has a fire ever started by accident?

• Do you have smoke alarms in your property, and do they work?

• How do you get hot water, lighting, heating in here? Do these services work properly? Have they ever been tested?

• Do you ever use candles or an open flame for heat and light, or cook with camping gas?

• When did you last go out in your garden? Do you feel safe to go out there?

• Are you worried about other people getting into your garden to try and break in? Has this ever happened?

• Are you worried about mice, rats or foxes, or other pests? Do you leave food out for them?

• Have you ever seen mice or rats in your home? Have they eaten any of your food? Or got upstairs and are nesting anywhere?

• Do you use your fridge? Can I have look in it? How do you keep things cold in the hot weather?

• Can you show me where you sleep and let me see your upstairs rooms? Are the stairs safe to walk up? (If there are any)

• Are there any broken windows in your home? Any repairs that need to be done?

• Because of the number of possessions you have, do you find it difficult to use some of your rooms? If so which ones?

• Is there any anti-social behaviour in your neighbourhood and has this ever affected you?

Further Information

NICE - National Institute for Health and Care Excellence - What to expect during assessment and care planning

SCIE - Social Care Institute for Excellence - Risk Identification and virtual Interventions for Social Workers