A heartfelt story

How our teams rally together to support a vulnerable client regain confidence in his home.

A client who had recently had a stay in hospital following a fall at home, was referred to our Out of Hospital Team post his discharge. One of our team visited him back in his home and heard just how overwhelmed he had become. For the last four years he had been the main carer for his wife who had dementia. She had recently moved into a care home where he visited her every day but had sadly passed away the previous day, leaving him feeling extremely isolated within his own home. He was struggling to maintain his home himself, was concerned about his financial situation and had little local family support.

Using specialist MYCaW skills our team member sat with the client and listened. He wanted support. Accessing our Personal Wellbeing Budget, we were able to arrange for his house to be deep cleaned within a few days. This allowed him to invite people into his home to help support him with arranging his wife’s funeral. To help him with his financial affairs, he was referred into our Help Team to assist him with accessing benefits such as an Attendance Allowance and Blue Badge.

Once all was in place we asked the client how he was doing. He was tearful and full of emotion about how we had lifted a huge weight off him. His application for Attendance Allowance was successful which ensured that his house could be cleaned on an ongoing basis by cleaners. This in turn had helped him become comfortable about inviting his family and friends around for a cup of tea so he no longer felt lonely and isolated.

As a result of our support, our client has been able to sustain having some longer-term help at home by accessing the benefits he’s entitled to.

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