1Dementia SupportService in CeredigionService User Guide


1 Introduction

This guide provides information about Alzheimer’s Society’sDementia SupportServices. It sets out what you can expect from Alzheimer’s Society, our Dementia SupportService and our staff. It details the aims of the service, introduces service staff and provides guidelines about the service.

If you have any questions about anything in this guide or the Dementia SupportService, please contact us.

2About Alzheimer’s Society

Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading support and research charity forpeople with dementia, their families and carers. We provide information andsupport to people with any form of dementia and their carers through ourservices, publications, National Dementia Helpline and more than 2,000 localoffices. We campaign for a better quality of life for people with dementia anda greater understanding of dementia. We also fund an innovative programmeof medical and social research into the cause, cure, and prevention ofdementia and the care people receive.

If you wish to find out about services provided by the Society please visit our websitealzheimers.org.uk/localinfo

If you need advice and guidance on living with dementia please contact ourNational Dementia Helpline on 0300 222 1122. The Helpline is open from

9am to5pm, Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Talking Point is Alzheimer’s Society’s online discussion forum for people with dementia and their carers. It is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it is a place to ask other people affected by dementia for advice, share information, join in discussions and feel supported. Visit the forum at alzheimers.org.uk/talkingpoint

3 Alzheimer’s Society’sDementia SupportService in Ceredigion

About the Dementia SupportService

The Dementia Support Service provides one-to-one support to people with dementia, carers and family members. The service is unique to your personal circumstances and the information and support you need. A Dementia Support Servicemay provide you with information and practical support to help you understand more about dementia, and support you to live well with dementia.

Service aims

The service aims to ensure that you:

  • have accurate, clear, relevant and useful information that is easy to understand
  • feel you understand more about dementia and your diagnosis and have an improved knowledge of living with dementia
  • feel you have improved knowledge of other services available to you and have been enabled to access other support services
  • feel less isolated
  • feel supported to maintain independence, make choices and be in control of your life
  • feel you have been listened to and that your questions have been answered adequately
  • feel that the service has helped you at difficult times to prevent crisis situations
  • feel empowered to have accessed and built wider support networks
  • feel you have learnt better coping strategies.

Dementiasupport is provided by paid Dementia Support Workers. Dementia Support Workers do not carry out the same role as Social Workers orCommunity Psychiatric Nurses, but may complement their work.

We will continue to support you until we have met your support needs and carried out agreed actions. However, you can come back to the service anytime in the future, for example, if your situation changes or you are in further need of dementia support. You can also telephone our National Dementia Helpline on 0300 222 1122 if you require any information related to living with dementia.

Service standards

We recognise that every person is different and support an individualised approach to dementia support.

Services will focus on you and your identified individual needs, life history and preferences.

We aim to be a proactive service that supports you to maintain independence.

Where appropriate we will work with family and carers to assess needs and identify what will be helpful. We will always put your needs and wants at the forefront.

We will listen and support you to express your concerns, problems and questions as well as respect your right to privacy.

We will be sensitive to cultural and religious needs.

We have a zero tolerance policy on all forms of abuse.

We will respect your right to make choices and take risks.

We will deliver a service in a way that ensures dignity and respect.

We aim to develop and improve our service according to the expressed needs and feedback from people with dementia, their family and/or carers.

We will actively seek your involvement in the monitoring and evaluation of the service.

We will make it simple and easy for you to complain and make comments about the service.

Eligibility

To use the Dementia Support Service, you must:

  • live in Ceredigion
  • be a person with a diagnosis of dementia or care for a person with a diagnosis ofdementia
  • be an adult, aged over 18 years.

The Dementia Support Service cannot support you with the following:

  • personal care – e.g. aDementia Support Worker cannot assist you with medication; getting in and out of bed; washing and dressing; going to the toilet
  • daily activities, hobbies and interests – e.g. the Dementia Support Service cannot ‘befriend’ you to provide companionship
  • a counselling service
  • a regular transportation service
  • Services offered by social workers, solicitors, financial experts or other specialist professionals.

Please speak to our Dementia Support Service at the local office if you need support in these matters. They can let you know about other services.

Arranging the service

If you would like to use the service, please contact theDementia Support Service and a staff member will speak with you to find out if the service can meet your needs. They will ask you for some information about yourself. The service can be provided face to face, over the telephone and via email or written communication. Where necessary we will arrange to visit you at home or meet up with you at a convenient location and time.

You will be asked to give your consent to receive the Dementia Support Service. Where possible we will ask for your written consent.

If we are unable to meet your needs through the Dementia Support Service our staff will be able to inform you of other local services that are available.

4 Dementia SupportService staff

About ourDementia Support Manager

The Dementia Support Manager has overall responsibility for the service.Their main role is to ensure the smooth running of the service, ensurecompliance with legal and Alzheimer’s Society requirements.The Dementia Support Manager will supervise and support the Dementia Support Workers in the service. They are also available to address any comments orquestions you might have.

About our dementia support workers

Our staff are carefully selectedand undergo a full Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. They also complete a comprehensive induction programme when they join us.

Dementia support workers are supervised and supported, and Alzheimer’s Society actively encourages its workforce to continue to develop their skills and knowledge.

All Alzheimer’s Society dementia support workers have undergone specialistdementia training.

5 Service guidelines

Health and safety

Alzheimer’s Society complies with all relevant legislation so that we can keep you and our workforce safe.

We hold appropriate employers and public liability insurance cover. As part of our assessment process, if we meet with you or visit you at home, we will need to undertake a risk assessment to ensure that we identify any potential risks to you or our dementia support workers. In identifying risks we will also identify how we work together to minimise the risk to youand our dementia support workers.

To help you feel safe, we will do the following.

  • ensure our dementia support managers and dementia support workers carry Alzheimer’s Society photo identification badges
  • ensure our staff do not change the relationship they have with you from a professional to a personal one – our staff will not share their personal information with you
  • if you have a key safe fitted, we will take note of the code if necessary for the dementia support worker to enter your home and use it only with permission from you or a carer/representative
  • ensure our dementia support worker has completed the necessary training
  • only visit you by appointment. If we need to change an appointment we will let you know as soon as possible.

Money and valuables

Our staff will not buy anything from you or sell things to you and they will not accept money from you, or lend or give you money.

We ask that you do not request ourDementia Support Workers to deal in any money matters not directly involved in your support.

For example, our Dementia Support Workers cannot:

  • take on Power of Attorney or act as executor of your will
  • use your supermarket loyalty cards for their own purchases
  • sell or dispose of goods on your behalf.

Staff are unable to accept donations. All donations must go directly to the Alzheimer’s Society local office.

Gifts

Alzheimer’s Society employees are expected to observe high standards ofhonesty and integrity. In practice, this means that staffcannot receive orretain gifts unless prior agreement is made with thedementia support manager.

Data protection and confidentiality

Alzheimer’s Society needs to collect and use information about you in order to deliver a safe service that is tailored wherever possible to your needs. We may also use this information to contact you from time to time to ask about the service and how we can develop or improve what we do. For more information about how we use your data please ask for a copy of our leaflet called ‘Your Personal Data’.

Alzheimer’s Society complies withthe UK Data Protection Act 1998 and will keep your personal data secure. You canrequest to see the information that we hold at any time by making a request in writing to: Information Security Manager, Alzheimer’s Society, Devon House, 58 St Katharine’s Way, London E1W 1LB.

We will keep your information confidential and not use it for anything except providing, managing and evaluating services. Exceptions willonly be made where there is a genuine concern for the safety and wellbeing of you or others.

Where we provide services with another organisation we will let you know who that organisation is and what information will be shared to deliver the service.

Records and paperwork

We would like to keep paperwork to a minimum but we do need to keep some records to make sure you receive the best support possible. We will explain to you what information we are recording and how it will be used.

Reviews

We will plan with you to review the support we provide to you to ensure it is addressing your identified needs. If you would like to request a review earlier than the agreed date, please contact the Dementia Support Serviceand a staff member will arrange this. If changes to the support we provide are considered necessary, these will be made as soon as we can.

Cancellations or changes

If for any reason you need to rearrange or cancel a dementia support visit, please contact the office as soon as possible.

Comments and complaints

Alzheimer’s Society is committed to ensuring that the services we offer are ofthe highest quality. We ask people to give us feedback about our services byfilling in aDementia SupportService questionnaire. Letting us know what works well and what doesn’t will help us to improve our services.

Very occasionally, things do go wrong. If you have any concerns orcomplaints about our services we would like to know so we can put thingsright if we can, and make sure we improve in the future.

If you are unhappy with something about our service to you, the first courseof action is to raise this directly with theDementia Support Managerinformally. They may often be able to put things right very quickly and simply.However, if you do not feel comfortable doing this, you can make a moreformal complaint by contacting the Operations Manager by letter,telephone or email.

Cheryl James, Alzheimer’s Society, 7b Hall Street, AmmanfordSA18 3BW

01269 597382

If you are not happy with the result of your complaint or in the way in which itwas dealt with, you can refer the matter to the Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Society whohas overall responsibility for dealing with complaints. You can also make an initial complaint directly to the Chief Executive.

Complaints

C/o Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive

Alzheimer’s Society

Devon House

58 St Katharine’s Way

London E1W 1LB

Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading support and research charity for people with dementia, their families and carers. We provide information and support to people with any form of dementia and their carers through our services, publications, National Dementia Helpline and more than 2,000 local offices. We campaign for a better quality of life for people with dementia and a greater understanding of dementia. We also fund an innovative programme of medical and social research into the cause, cure, and prevention of dementia and the care people receive.

If you have any concerns about Alzheimer’s or any other form of dementia, visit alzheimers.org.uk or call Alzheimer’s Society’s National Dementia Helpline on

0300 222 1122. (Interpreters are available in any language. Calls may be recorded or monitored for training and evaluation purposes.)

Alzheimer’s Society

Devon House

58 St Katharine’s Way

London E1W 1LB

T 020 7423 3500

E

W alzheimers.org.uk

Published: July 2013

Next review due: July 2014

Version 4

Registeredcharity no 296645.

A company limited by guarantee and registered in England no. 2115499.

Alzheimer’s Society operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland