Emotional Support
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What is a home visit?
All carers are welcome to ring our Carers Hotline on 0161 861 0101 but sometimes you may want someone to visit you to have a more in-depth chat about your circumstances. We have specific workers with expertise in different areas who can come out and visit you at your home, at the Carers Centre or at another mutually agreeable location. Our visits will last no longer than one hour.
What is a Carers' assessment?
An assessment is not as scary as it sounds! It is a form used at the Carers Centre to make sure that we ask you all the questions we need to. The worker who visits you may use this form and will ask you about the care you give, the effect it has on your daily life ad what you feel would make things easier for you. It may be useful for you to think about some of these things as well as how caring has affected your own health, social life and your other responsibilities.
What is an Action Plan?
By doing an assessment, the worker will be able to identify areas where you may need information, advice, advocacy and other services. As a carer you may also discover some changes that you would like to make in your life. The worker might visit you a number of times to give you support and encouragement to carry out the actions in your plan. The number of times a worker visits depends very much on your circumstances. If you need to contact a worker between visits, they promise to return your call within two working days. If you need support sooner, our Helpline team will be able to help you.
What is advocacy?
Our home visiting team can also provide advocacy services at your request. Advocacy means that they could accompany you to meetings or that they will talk to other professionals on your behalf. The worker will not do any of this without your permission and they will discuss with you fully what your views and wishes are. They will not take any action without your guidance.
Can I change my worker?
You do not have to have the worker we have allocated to you. If you would like a different worker you can contact the Centre and ask to speak to our Casework Supervisor who will arrange this for you. All workers will give you a copy of our complaints and compliments leaflet.
What happens afterwards?
After a worker has come out to see you and helped to improve your circumstances, they will need to move on to support someone else. Our work is time limited and not long term. However, you can still ring our Carers' Helpline at any point if you would like further advice or a chat. Someone will also contact you every 6-12 months to see if you are okay and whether anything has changed.
Is it confidential?
Trafford Carers Centre offers confidentiality to all its clients. We will not pass any information onto anyone else without your permission. All of our records are kept on a secure computer or in locked files and you are able to see them at any time. We would only need to break confidentiality if you told us that yourself or somebody else was in danger or if it relates to certain criminal offences.
You are welcome to see our protocol for case recording or our confidentiality and data protection policies.
Will I find it useful?
Here are some comments from other carers who have had a home visit and an assessment:
"The assessment helped to give us confidence in what we needed as carers.""
"I didn't realise what kind of support was out there and what sort of help I could be given!"
"It helped me to see that I needed time for myself and that my own needs were important."
"The assessment acknowledged me and my needs, it was nice to know that someone was thinking about the carer for a change!"
How do I make an appointment?
All you need to do is ring our Carers' Helpline on 0161 861 0101. They will take down some basic details and pass your information over to the appropriate specialist worker. They will contact you within three working days to arrange a suitable time to meet with you in the next two weeks. At certain times theres may be a waiting list for our home visiting team, but we will let you know roughly how long it will be before a worker can contact you and we will keep you updated.
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