Carers Assessment
All Adult Carers are entitled to an assessment from their local authority regardless of how much care they are providing.
You may also want to have a re-assessment of your needs if your Caring role has considerably changed since your last assessment.
In Allerdale and Copeland Carer Support West Cumbria carry out Carers Assessments on behalf of Cumberland Council.
What is a Carer's Assessment?
If you look after a relative or friend who could not manage without your help and caring has a major impact in your life then a carer’s assessment could help you.
Cumberland Council may be able to help to make things easier for you, in certain circumstances they can provide services to the person you care for. They can also provide services for you!
To work out what services would be helpful we would discuss:
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What the person you care for needs help with
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What help you are giving at the moment
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How we or other local organisations could help you.
The way this is done is called an “assessment”
What is a Carer's Assessment for?
The purpose of a carer's assessment is to discuss the support you need with caring, plus help to maintain your own health and juggle caring with your life, work and family commitments.
It is your opportunity to tell both us and the county council about the things that could make caring easier for you.
A carer’s assessment is NOT a test of your caring abilities and is not something you should be apprehensive about.
If you want to, you can have a look at a copy of the carers assessment form in advance so that you can have a think about the topics that the support worker will discuss with you.
Some things you may want to think about / discuss could be:
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Are you getting enough sleep?
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Is your health affected in any other way?
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Can you get out and about?
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Do you get any time for yourself?
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Are your other relationships affected?
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Do you want information about benefits?
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Are you worried you may have to give up work?
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Is the person you care for getting enough help?
Before your assessment you might also want to think about what sort of services might help you, such as:
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services that give you a break
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emotional support from other carers or people who understand
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help with household tasks
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help with caring tasks during the day/night
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benefits advice
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activities for the person you care for
You are entitled to an assessment even if the person you care for refuses to have an assessment themselves. You can have a friend with you at the time of the assessment if you think that might be helpful.
What will happen during the assessment?
One of our Carers Support Workers will arrange to visit you, normally in your home but it can be another neutral place if you prefer.
They will ask you a range of questions about how caring for your loved one affects your day to day life including employment, health, social activities, and finances.
They will also look at your emotional well-being and any contingency plans you may have or need should you suddenly find yourself unable to care for your loved one.
Depending on the outcome of your assessment you may be eligible for additional support from us or Cumberland Council. You can find out more about the support we can offer by clicking here.
If you would like to have an assessment or an informal chat to find out more, please contact us.
You can find more detailed information about Carers Assessments on the Carers UK or NHS websites.