In October 2015 Herefordshire Council commissioned Crossroads to deliver a new outcomes focused Health and Wellbeing Service to support carers who have been through the Social Care assessment process and been found to have eligible needs. Referrals are made to Crossroads Carer’s Health and Wellbeing Service for us to work with carers to come up with innovative, sustainable and cost effective solutions to meet those assessed eligible needs and the carers own outcomes.
We start with a one to one home visit to go through the identified needs and establish exactly what it is the carer wants to achieve – their outcomes - and what is currently preventing them from doing so.
• The Carers health and Wellbeing Service works on an outcome based model and is focused on achieving the outcomes that carers have identified as important to them
• The Crossroads Health and Wellbeing Service has the flexibility and local knowledge to be able to be creative and inventive in looking for solutions.
• The Crossroads Carers Health and Wellbeing Service provides the time, knowledge and expertise to make things happen followed by the ongoing contact and access to supported socials, events and good value community based group respite. We will investigate what community resources are available that could enable the carer to meet their outcomes. This could be liaising with other third sector providers, arranging community transport membership, providing dementia training to the local lunch club volunteers so the carer and cared for feel comfortable attending – basically anything that assists the carer to meet their identified outcomes.
In addition we have a number of events, activities and trips run by the Health and Wellbeing Service that we can link the carer into for example
• Day trips each month for both the carer and cared for – picking up and dropping off door to door, providing support staff for the cared for, easing the duties of the carer for the day
• A monthly Gents Pub Club aimed at the cared for gentlemen - we will pick up take them for an afternoon at the pub along with our qualified support workers and drop them off again afterwards – giving carers a respite break
We work closely with local organisations where we can provide additional support staff on certain days allowing some of the Adults with higher personal care needs to attend and in turn allowing the carer a break. Crossroads will then provide as much support and facilitation as is required. This may be very proactive with repeated home visits, accompanying carers to events or groups for the first time, or perhaps just bi monthly “how are you both” phone calls; whatever suits the carer. We will continue to support the carer for as long as they feel they need us.