Social work assessment

In the run up to publication of my new book Carers and Caring; the One Stop Guide; how to care for older relatives and friends I am sharing some of the practical solutions learned from research and experience. If you think any problems have been missed you can email me and tell me, and I’ll make sure they are covered in the next edition and online on my website at www.juneandrews.net.  Today S is for Social work assessment.  

Social work assessment

When anyone comes to the house, Dad pulls himself together and brightens up, telling them he’s fine and independent but in reality I know how much he is reliant on other people for his daily tasks.

(Daughter)

Collect evidence by writing things down

Sometimes the person you care for lets the side down by being brilliant on the day of the assessment, giving the impression that no support is needed. When you have a social work assessment, it is hard to fall into the role of asking for help. You try to make the best of things most of the time, and when someone asks, you may not want to drone on about the worst things. In fact, you might not even remember them. Therefore you must write things down. The social worker doesn’t need to know how things are when it is going fine. They want to know how bad it can get. They can’t offer you help for things you don’t mention, or they don’t see, while assessing. This is important because that one assessment sets the ground for all the requests for help that you might make until the next assessment. 

The questions were maddening. ‘How often is your mother incontinent?’ What does that even mean? She just IS incontinent! Do they want me to count up the pees and poos? If they mean how often do you have to change the bed, or wash sheets and clothes, and how long can she walk without wetting herself, why don’t they ask that? But they just ask, ‘How often is your mother incontinent?’ (Retired nurse)

Help is available for filling out forms and assessments

You can get help with the forms and the assessment from people with experience. Contact the local Age UK or carers’ organisation. They sometimes have a member of staff who has a full-time job just supporting people to fill out forms. Because they do it every day it takes them a fraction of the time, and they can make sure that you don’t miss out any relevant information that could increase the amount of benefit you get.

There is much more about social work assessments in  Carers and Caring: The One-Stop Guide: How to care for older relatives and friends - with tips for managing finances and accessing the right support  available from all good bookshops in May 2022

Three hints:

1.     You need to focus on the worst if you want support

2.     The person you care for will subvert your attempt to get help

3.     The questions are daft; get help with the forms from someone with experience