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Chillialacorte profile image
9 Replies

can I get help at home for my mum who has dementia

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Chillialacorte profile image
Chillialacorte
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9 Replies
Kristin1812 profile image
Kristin1812Heart Star

i would call Age UK, who will signpost you to some help.

Gundoglady profile image
Gundoglady

Has she been diagnosed by her GP?If she has go back and ask for help, you need to ask for what you want, aim high, but, be prepared to accept less.

If you are looking for personal care or just company/homehelp you may need a referral from the GP .

Noodlesalad profile image
Noodlesalad

My personal experience is yes you can get help at home. I found my local CVS very helpful and knowledgeable.It was a minefield of despair and paperwork to begin with but I got there in the and after mum had many falls we ended up with two healthcare assistants that were amazing.

Be bold, be strong and another great help and support was my local Alzheimer's and Dementia support group .

Hope you get help soon.

Zed1063 profile image
Zed1063

HI

Yes you can you need to contct your local social services and ask for an urgent assessment! Tell them the situation and how yhou are feeling and ask for a carers assessment at the same time. Explain what is going on and how this is effecting your life, be detailed. They will then arrange for a social worker to come and visit your mother and arrange a care package to assist her. This will take time but push do not just sit back or it could take months. Also speak to the GP and ask to be referred to the Dementia support, continence team, and possibly the day centers. The help is out there you just need to ask. They will arrange a financial assessment and your mum will be told, her contribution, if any towards her care each week. I think the allowed amount is £23,500 savings.

Hope that helps good luck

scentedgardener profile image
scentedgardener

Ring your county council and ask for the Adult Care Service. Your mum will get an assessment, help is means tested but in my area you don't have to pay if you have less than £26000 in savings. This help is personal care, help with housework etc., is not paid for.If you are your mum's carer you can also get a needs assessment. I don't quite know what help can be offered to a carer other than respite care for an hour here and there, but it's worth a try.

Additionally your mum could be eligible for attendance allowance depending on her health. You can look that up online.

Hope this helps.

MichaelJH profile image
MichaelJHHeart Star

Hello and welcome to the forum!

I would either ring your local CAB, the Dementia UK Helpline (0800 888 6678) or the Alzheimer's Society Helpline (0333 150 3456) for advice.

I would advise talking to them first before contacting Social Services whose main aim these days seems to extract maximum monies out of people! Friends and myself found Age UK less than helpful!

Kristin1812 profile image
Kristin1812Heart Star in reply to MichaelJH

I think Age UKs help must be patchy! My experiences with them have been exceptional. Luck of the draw?

Heythrop51 profile image
Heythrop51 in reply to MichaelJH

Our experiences with my aunt's husband were really bad. The social workers just wanted to put him in a home after he fell coming down from the loft at 85! They then came up with a care package that was outrageously expensive (well over double what the carers themselves receive). After a few weeks he reduced it to just a morning visit and got a local woman to do some cleaning and shopping for him. Five years later he fell down the stairs. When he was told that they would move him from hospital to a home he told them he wasn't going and passed away that night after his visitors left. There said it was if he had decided it was rime for the next life.

I think the good social workers work with children and young adults while the ones that don't make the grade work with disabled adults and the elderly. :(

His family contacted both charities that merged to become Age UK and found them unhelpful?! :(

Hullensian profile image
Hullensian

If you are helping your mum with the tasks of day-to-day living, ie, taking medication, preparing meals, shopping, hygiene, you may be able to claim Attendance Allowance. The form requires careful completion, but the staff at the DWP are really helpful, once they have received it.