Christmas and New Year information
Find out all the information you need about our services over the Christmas and New Year period. This includes our opening times, waste collection days, and how to contact us out of hours.
Adult Social Care needs assessment
If you have a disability, physical or mental health difficulties or are experiencing illness and as a result, this impacts on you being able to look after yourself and live the life you want to live, we may be able to support you.
How we can support you
We can provide advice, guidance, information or an assessment to explore your care and support needs with you and how these could be met.
We recognise and respect that you are the expert in your own life and are best placed to identify what your care and support needs are and what you want to achieve. How you define your wellbeing, goals, outcomes and needs are individual to you.
We will work with you to help identify what matters to you, build on your strengths and support you to prevent, delay and/or reduce the development and impact of your needs so you can work towards achieving what you wish to in your daily life and do so as independently as possible.
The different ways you can get support
There are ways to arrange and access care and support without an Adult Social Care Needs Assessment. Regardless of whether you are eligible or not, we will support you by providing advice, information and guidance including sharing details of resources or services available to you.
Services and resources such as:
- wellbeing support through social prescribing
- local services on the Joy app
- assistive technology or equipment that may help
- our reablement service
You can also search for local organisations yourself in our online directory
About the assessment process
You may hear the assessment described in a number of ways such as an assessment of needs for care and support or a needs assessment. Should you ever feel uncertain please reach out to us and we will help to explain.
The assessment is how we determine whether you need care and support to help you in your day-to-day life and includes an eligibility criteria to determine whether some or all of your needs are eligible to be met by us. You may have to make a contribution to the cost of your care and support, but this will be determined by the financial assessment.
The assessment will be carried out by a member of our staff such as a Social Worker, Social Care Worker, Senior Support Assessment Officer, Rehabilitation Officer for Visual Impairment (ROVI) or an Occupational Therapist.
Looking Local provides a video animation to guide you through the Adult Social Care process.
Adult Social Care journey animations (Looking Local)
To help explain any unfamiliar or difficult words, terms or abbreviations Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) have created a Care and Support Jargon Buster which you may find useful.
TLAP Care and Support Jargon Buster (thinklocalactpersonal.org.uk)
What happens during an assessment
The assessment will be completed with you and those most important to you if you wish. You are entitled to have an independent advocate if you find it difficult understanding the assessment process, what others may be saying or asking or if there is no-one else to support you.
During the assessment, we will have a conversation with you about:
- your current circumstances, what support you need now and what you may need in the future
- what support you might need should a family member, friend, neighbour or anyone else who cares for you is unable to do so
- what impact your needs have on your daily life
- what you want to achieve
- what and who is important to you
- what is working well including your strengths and skills, what might not be working well and how this might be preventing you from living the life you want to live
We may also talk to anyone who provides you with informal support such as friends, family or neighbours and anyone else you feel is appropriate to help us determine what care and support you may need. This could include other professionals who help you such as a District Nurse or General Practitioner (GP).
Ask for an assessment
If you would prefer to, you can complete the assessment yourself (known as a self-assessment or supported self-assessment) and we will support you with advice and guidance to be able to do so. Your self-assessment will help us identify your needs and assess whether your needs are eligible
You can ask for an assessment by contacting us through our online form.
If you're concerned about that there's abuse or neglect, you should report your safeguarding concerns to us.
After you've been assessed
After your Adult Social Care Assessment has been completed and if you have needs that are eligible for care and support through Adult Social Care, we will work with you to create your Support Plan.
Your Support Plan will show how your needs will be met and the goals you wish to achieve. Your Support Plan will be reviewed at regular times.
If your needs change, we will support you to update your Adult Social Care Assessment and Support Plan.
We recognise and respect that everyone is unique and how you need information and advice provided is individual to you. To help there are some resources available online: