Where do I go for help?

candymostdandy@

Registered User
May 12, 2006
81
0
west sussex
Hi, my mother is 85 and suffers from Alzheimer's moved in with me and my family in January, and we have hardly stopped laughing since she moved in (obviously mixed in with tears, frustration and bewilderment). Myself and my husband have found it much easier with her at our home (she has her own sitting room, bathroom and showroom), as I can see to her needs whilst still being in my home environment, and she feels safe knowing that we are about. Up until a few days ago I had not really given any thought about any benefits or help that I might be able to get for my mother, as we seem to be coping quite well at the moment with the arrangemt. ( I have a lady who picks her up and takes her out to church, coffee etc twice per week), but this week I came across a "Carers Information Bus", in town and was given leaflets with all sorts of info about all sorts of things that we may be able to claim for. Unfortunately I already feel exhousted, as it appears that the leaflets are printed, but hurdles and obsticles are put in the way of being able to make any claim.
Does anyone know about "Direct Payments", and if so have you managed to make a claim.
I am currently still working, and looking after my mother.

any thoughts
Thanks
 

noelphobic

Registered User
Feb 24, 2006
3,452
0
Liverpool
candymostdandy@ said:
(she has her own sitting room, bathroom and showroom), I am currently still working, and looking after my mother.
any thoughts
Thanks

Hi and welcome to TP. My mum is also 85 and suffering from dementia of indeterminate origin, amongst other things. She is in a nursing home however.

I have no personal knowledge or experience of Direct Payments but I am pretty sure that others on the list do and am sure you will hear from them soon.

I am very interested in your mum's showroom :D What does she sell or was that a typo :eek:
 

shauny

Registered User
Oct 27, 2005
57
0
north-east england
direct payments

hi Candy im Shaun a social worker i organise direct payments for people i deal with. U should contact your local social servcies office ideally go in person and ask to speak to the duty social worker who if they are on the ball will give u some details. Shauny
 

noelphobic

Registered User
Feb 24, 2006
3,452
0
Liverpool
shauny said:
hi Candy im Shaun a social worker i organise direct payments for people i deal with. U should contact your local social servcies office ideally go in person and ask to speak to the duty social worker who if they are on the ball will give u some details. Shauny

I was very interested to read your post because I have been considering taking voluntary redundancy from work and doing a Social Work degree. If I follow this route then I would be interested in working with the elderly. Any tips/advice or would you just tell me not to give up the day job? :eek:

I have to add that I am 46 and would therefore be 50+ when I graduate. I would think that maturity could be an asset in this field but not sure. :confused:
 

shauny

Registered User
Oct 27, 2005
57
0
north-east england
Noelphobic

to qualify as a social worker is a 3yr degree course i am planning on going back to the voluntary sector at some point in the future. If i was in your shoes i would consider looking at the private/voluntary sector such as age concern, carers organisations such as alzheimers society for work. Im not trying to put u off social work there are many bits to it but its finding what is right for you. Shauny
 

noelphobic

Registered User
Feb 24, 2006
3,452
0
Liverpool
shauny said:
to qualify as a social worker is a 3yr degree course i am planning on going back to the voluntary sector at some point in the future. If i was in your shoes i would consider looking at the private/voluntary sector such as age concern, carers organisations such as alzheimers society for work. Im not trying to put u off social work there are many bits to it but its finding what is right for you. Shauny

Yes, I know it's a 3 year degree so obviously a big commitment, especially at my age. I am slightly worried that I would give up my job, do the course and then for whatever reason decide it's not for me :eek: Voluntary work isn't an option at the moment because I have a full time job, am a single parent to a son with diabetes and also have a mother in a nursing home. I have researched the degree quite a bit and I think they do like you to have done something relevant first in either a voluntary or paid capacity. If I decided to commit to doing it then I am sure I could manage to do whatever is needed to fit the criteria. It's just rather daunting after 16 years in a totally unrelated area of work. :eek:

Can I ask how long you have been a social worker for? (obviously I can ask, because I just did, but you don't have to answer if you don't want to :D )
 

shauny

Registered User
Oct 27, 2005
57
0
north-east england
noelphobic

hi ive been a social worker for 5 long years but previously done a lot of voluntary work. What i meant by social work is that there are a lot of paid jobs in the private/voluntary sector. However should u do the course then prepare for financial, emotional and physical hardship that was my experience !!! Shauny.
 

noelphobic

Registered User
Feb 24, 2006
3,452
0
Liverpool
shauny said:
However should u do the course then prepare for financial, emotional and physical hardship that was my experience !!! Shauny.

Yes, that's what worries me :eek: However, it does read a bit like the story of my life so far (cue violins) :D
 

Whocares

Registered User
Mar 18, 2006
27
0
I found Age Concern excellent when I tried to claim carers allowance for my dad for looking after my mum, They even filled the fom in all I had to do was sign. Sadly Dad died before he could reap the benefits of his very hard earned cash. We all had a drink on him, bless im

Re Social work degree:

I work for Social Services and have a great job (Support and Resettlement) Idid intend to do a degree and had left my other job, when I met someone who had a vacancy in their dept for a non qualified Resettement Officer and I am now it. 4 years on I have no intention of doing the degree I am 46 I like what Im doing and there are lots of jobs around in the same field if anything goes wrong i.e redundancy.

I would suggest trying for something that depends on "life" experience and where there is a big pot of government money i.e: Supporting People Fund which finances part of housing that isnt met by Housing Benefit like homeless accommodation. Working with teenagers is great especially if you have had some of your own and can ignore some of the loud lairy behavior. I also work with Young Drug/Alcohol Addicts who are not all like you read about in the papers and are all someones baby. I also do sessional work i.e Take youngsters on outing to play snooker, gym , cinema alton towers ect all good fun, someone gotta spent the tax payers money eh?
 

noelphobic

Registered User
Feb 24, 2006
3,452
0
Liverpool
Whocares said:
I would suggest trying for something that depends on "life" experience and where there is a big pot of government money i.e: Supporting People Fund which finances part of housing that isnt met by Housing Benefit like homeless accommodation. Working with teenagers is great especially if you have had some of your own and can ignore some of the loud lairy behavior. I also work with Young Drug/Alcohol Addicts who are not all like you read about in the papers and are all someones baby. I also do sessional work i.e Take youngsters on outing to play snooker, gym , cinema alton towers ect all good fun, someone gotta spent the tax payers money eh?

I have to say that I would absolutely HATE to work with teenagers :eek: If I do make the leap then I would like to do the degree as I have always wanted to do a degree anyway. I would like to either be a hospital social worker or do something with the elderly. Obviously if I do a 3 year degree course then I may have changed my mind about the area I wish to work in at the end of it. The other option I am seriously considering is keeping my job and doing a OU degree in Health and Social Care. You can do the Social Work degree through the OU but it is designed for people who are sponsored by their employers and as I work for a bank I don't think they'd go for it :D
 

Margarita

Registered User
Feb 17, 2006
10,824
0
london
My daughter is studying to became a social worker, she has done the degree & pass, but she been told she has to do a masters? Before she can become a social worker, she said that the system has change now ,where before they took you on because of life experience & had a degree ,she away on holiday at the moment so can not ask her more on it
 

Margarita

Registered User
Feb 17, 2006
10,824
0
london
Does anyone know about "Direct Payments", and if so have you managed to make a claim.
I am currently still working, and looking after my mother


Oh sorry .

Was going to say its mean tested on your mother income, instead of social worker organising a care worker coming to your home , they give you the money & you can chose the agency so you became the employer .

I did not choose it that way, because I have to answer & keep the accounts to show social worker how I spent the money.

I have so much reasonability looking after mum money anyway & my own, that I don’t think I could balance it all out, so I just leave it to the social worker
 

sequoia

Registered User
Jul 3, 2005
19
0
London
Re Direct Payments

An assessment by Social Services would set out care you could obtain from them; direct payments are if they decide you qualify for paid-for care and want to set up something for yourself. However, direct payments can sometimes be a hastle with hiring, employer insurance and all that stuff. By the way, as a carer you also, I believe, have a statutory right to an assessment of your needs too.

A benefit not means tested is : Attendance Allowance or if under 65 Disability Living Allowance. Contact: Disability and Carers Service, 08457 123456.

For Social Services Assessment contact your local Social Services Department.

Another fantastic organization is "Crossroads for Carers" who provide, free of charge, a couple of hours of respite. You'd find them in your local telephone directory.
 

noelphobic

Registered User
Feb 24, 2006
3,452
0
Liverpool
Margarita said:
My daughter is studying to became a social worker, she has done the degree & pass, but she been told she has to do a masters? Before she can become a social worker, she said that the system has change now ,where before they took you on because of life experience & had a degree ,she away on holiday at the moment so can not ask her more on it

Is her degree actually in Social Work? Because if she has a Social Work degree then that should qualify her to be a social worker. I would imagine the masters could possibly be required for promotion or something like that but not just to be an ordinary social worker. Or if your degree was in something other than social work maybe.

Let me know when you find out Margarita.
 

candymostdandy@

Registered User
May 12, 2006
81
0
west sussex
direct payments

I just feel a bit stressed with the whole thing, as having been given leaflets about the help that is available, it would appear to you have to fight to get it.

I have made a couple of phone calls and visited the carers information desk at the local hospital, apparently west sussex is a long way behind the other counties, and as my mother is suffering from mental health then its probably virtually impossible to get direct payments unless i'm prepared for a battle, but on the other hand if she was physically disabled it would be quite easy.

I already have experience of care that is provided directly by Social Services, as my father suffered from Parkinsons Disease, (he passed away two years ago), unfortunately the quality of care provided was so bad, for eg: never knowing what time they would arrive, we would be given a time span of three hours, so anytime in the morning from 7am to 10 am, and in the evening from 6pm to 10pm, at least had they turned up during these time slots it would have been tolerable, but on the day that the regular carer was off, no cover would be arranged, so my father would be left all day, or until we could get to him and help him. We asked them to advise us if they were unable to come, but of course this never happened and we were just left guessing. Because of the poor care, we took dad's care off of social services and made our own arrangements. I have only now found out that we should have been offered direct payments. Well I had not even heard of it until this week.
 

Tender Face

Account Closed
Mar 14, 2006
5,379
0
NW England
candymostdandy@ said:
Hi, my mother is 85 and suffers from Alzheimer's moved in with me and my family in January, and we have hardly stopped laughing since she moved in (obviously mixed in with tears, frustration and bewilderment).any thoughts
Thanks

My thoughts: (FWIW!) Thank you for sharing such an upbeat message. Laughter the medicine (for carers, too) at times.

Best wishes, TF
 

shauny

Registered User
Oct 27, 2005
57
0
north-east england
social services support

hi Candy, it does not suprise me u have had a bad experience from dealing with social services. I should know i work for them im afraid in Britain it is a postcode lottery as to the level & quality of support a client will get depending on where they live. I just try and give 100% to the people i deal with and i have a genuine interest in elderly care my specialism. What more can i say well on tp we are here for each other so u will get support. Shauny