What to expect from a Social Worker

[Stewart]

A social worker wants to arrange a first visit (initiated by GP). I’m not sure exactly what to expect. What help can they offer?

My wife, aged 56, is in the moderate stage of Alzheimer’s (PCA variant). She needs help to do most things (eg dressing, eating) and has lost much of her conversational skills. She is, however, quite positive.

Although we do not have family or close friends nearby, we do cope on a day to day basis.

I would appreciate any advice on how to approach this visit.

Thanks
Stewart

 

[Vonny]

Hi Stewart,

Are you caring for your wife full-time or is she left on her own while you work? You should ask the SW for a Carer's Assessment if you feel you need time away from your caring role. I've read some posts which state the carer's assessment didn't amount to much, but it's worth asking. If you are out at work then the SW could possibly help with arranging for a carer to come in to help your wife with lunch, say. Any caring is means tested however and if your wife has >£23,000 of her own (or half your joint assets not including the house) then any care would have to be paid for.

There is no need to make use of the SW if you genuinely feel you don't need it but it's useful to make early contact with Social Services so you are in the system for when the time comes for you to need more support. That's what we did with mum...saw the SW once and we never saw her again but we were able to get a rapid appointment with a new Social Worker when it was time to get more help, because we were already "on their files" so to speak.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Vonny xx

 

[JPG1]

Hello Stewart

Your GP may have had a reason for initiating the visit by a social worker, and that reason may be to help you to help your wife, long-term rather than short-term. Did you ask the GP why he/she made this referral to the SW?

You could perhaps think about the kind of help you think you might need, or even just things that would help you to help your wife more/better/with less of a strain on you.

Then, you could ask the Social Worker what he/she could suggest as ways of helping you.

The onus should be on the SW to suggest ways of helping you to help your wife. It could be help with dressing, washing, day centre visits, care-breaks for you (also known as ‘respite’), or whatever you think might help you and your wife.

Good luck, and hope that your SW listens to you.

.

 

[KalliH]

My experience with SW

Hi Stewart

I can give you a little information about our experience with the SW. My wife has early onset dementia diagnosed 18 months ago, but with symtoms going back several years before that. She is now 56 and is unable to dress herself, wash herself, generally look after herself. I work full time with a 40 minute journey each way and so I am away from home almost 10 hours a day.

A year ago the SW visited us for the first time and discussed Diane's needs - physical, medical, mental, social, etc. and with the CPN came up with a care plan requiring 30 hours of support which was to be provided by direct payments.

Although it took several months to sort out the payments and then to find two personal assistants for Diane, it has now been in place for seven months. It has worked quite well for us - taking some of the pressure from me while away from home, and giving Diane someone to keep her company and look after her during a large part of the day.

Diane's condition has deteriorated recently with her worrying about using the toilet during the few hours' gap between her PA leaving and me arriving home. Because of this, I have had the SW and CPN around today to discuss the possibility of increasing the number of hours paid for by the direct payments. It has not been dismissed as I thought it might; in fact they want to do all they can to keep me working.

The reason for covering all this is to show that if our experience is anything to go by then you should enquire about direct payments and ask for all the help you need. I know that different local authorities look at things differently, but ours (North Lincs) has been very good. At no point have we been asked about savings and income.

Hope this helps

Steve

 

[seaurchin]

Hello Stewart,

We had our first home visit from a social worker and occupational therapist to assess my husband's care needs today. He was sadly diagnosed with AD presentation of dementia two weeks ago. They wanted to see what Ian's care needs would be and what would help to support us both and keep my husband in the family home. It was a very positive experience today and not at all scary as I had thought it may be. They were kind and sensitive. I hope that you also have a good experience as I now feel more positive.

Best wishes

Helen

 

[Sandy]

Hi Stewart,

Welcome to Talking Point (TP)

You've had some excellent feedback already, but you might also want to look at the Alzheimer's Society's factsheet on the Community care assessment process:

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/factsheet/418

The key thing about the process is that you and your wife will be in charge of deciding what services you want or don't want - SS don't tend to cram things down your throat.

I would look at it as an initial conversation in what will hopefully be a long-term, productive dialog.

There are some very good, switched-on SW's out there. One factor might be how much experience they have with PCA, or similar conditions. But a good SW should be able to learn from listening to you and your wife who are the experts in what you need.

Take care,

 

[Stewart]

Thanks for the responses, they are very helpful and I feel much better prepared for the visit next Tuesday.

I have given up work to care for my wife so the help that we need at present is really just some limited respite care.

Thanks again

Stewart

 

[Lynne]

Hi Stewart

How did the visit from the Social Worker go? And how's life with that lovely puppy?

Best wishes

 

[Stewart]

Hi Lynne,

We had the visit from the SW today. It lasted a couple of hours and went pretty much as I expected given the input that I received on talking point.

The SW was quite young and very pleasant. We agreed that in the next 6 months or so I will probably need some help with Jan’s personal care. For now we shall continue to manage on our own.

I asked her to investigate whether occupational therapy and a visit from the Admiral Nurse might be worthwhile. She agreed to look into these and get back to me.

So overall a positive experience.

Stewart

PS Re the dog (miniature schnauzer Alfie 16 months), he is a great source of comfort and activity for Jan. I could not imagine our life without him. He does have a mind of his own and having a dog is a lot of responsibility and work - but absolutely no regrets.