Vulnerable Adults

Appendix 1

Who is considered to be a vulnerable adult?

A vulnerable adult is defined in the original Safeguarding and Vetting Guidelines (and these are unlikely to be changed materially in the new guidelines) as a person who is aged 18 years or over and who:

• is living in residential accommodation, such as a care home or a residential special school
• is living in sheltered housing
• is receiving domiciliary care in their own home
• is receiving any form of healthcare
• is detained in lawful custody (in a prison, remand centre, young offender institution, secure training centre or attendance centre, or under the powers of the Immigration or Asylum Act 1999)
• is under the supervision of the probation services
• is receiving a welfare service defined as the provision of support assistance or advice by any person, the purpose of which is to develop an individual’s capacity to live independently in accommodation or support their capacity to do so
• is receiving a service or participating in an activity for people who have particular needs because of their age or who have any form of disability
• is an expectant or nursing mother living in residential care
• is receiving direct payments from a local authority or health and social care trust in lieu of social care services, or
• requires assistance in the conduct of their own affairs.