Help with day to day living
What's available?
Help with day to day living is available for people with a learning or physical disability, sight or hearing loss, frailty or illness, who need extra support to live independently at home.
This housing related support helps with day to day living, issues like setting up and maintaining a home, managing money and paying bills, dealing with paperwork, claiming benefits and developing domestic and life skills such as shopping or cooking.
Help is also available with personal care, such as washing, bathing or dressing, or support getting in or out of bed.
Who can get it?
Help with day to day living is available for people over the age of 18 with a learning or physical disability, or with sight or hearing loss, frailty or illness.
What if I prefer to organise my own support?
Many people have someone they know who can offer support, such as a family member, friend, neighbour or local charity volunteer. Our priority is to support people who have no other option or need additional help. If you’re happy with the support you’re able to organise, you don’t have to contact Adult Social Care if you’d rather not.
What support can I get?
We’ll need to discuss with you what support you might need - we call this an assessment.
We may offer you short term assistance called Reablement to regain your independence or confidence. This service lasts for up to 6 weeks and is free.
After Reablement, we’ll discuss any ongoing needs you might have through a Self Directed Support (SDS) Assessment, where we’ll estimate the cost of your support and let you know whether we can make a financial contribution.
Can I get help with the cost?
You may have to contribute towards the cost of your support, depending on your level of savings, income and expenses.
We’ll help you to fill out a financial assessment form to see if you qualify for help. To get a rough idea of costs and how much you’ll pay, you can carry out a quick, confidential, financial self assessment online.
If we can make a contribution, we call this a Personal Budget. You can look after the money yourself and use it to arrange your own support, or you can ask the Council to hold the money and help you to find the support you need.
What if I don’t qualify for financial support?
If you don't qualify for financial help from us, you could arrange to employ someone directly, a Personal Assistant, to support you. Hestia, a local organisation, can help you to find someone.
The Money Advice Service, set up by government, provides free, unbiased and independent advice, including useful information on employing your own personal assistant.
You could also contact a private home care agency. Remember to take care to choose an agency that’s registered and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Call 03000 616161 or email enquiries@cqc.org.uk. We maintain a list of home care agencies
(pdf, 267KB) in the borough.
Please contact me about this service
If you’re still unsure you can contact the Adult Social Care Access Team