Lesley Wines, Jewish Care Social Work Team Manager, East London & Essex shares a real life example of how social workers and family carers team are driving change throughout their services.
The social work role at Jewish Care involves empowering people to make their own decisions and choices and putting our clients at the centre of our work with them, so they feel that they are in control. The Social Workers and our Family Carers Team, who support the informal unpaid carers, work together to identify issues for our clients, supporting them to come up with solutions that work for them. We liaise with agencies and organisations, advocating to get the best outcomes for our clients.
One of our Social Workers, Chris Paraskos, recently worked with Joanne Selby, one of our Family Carers Support and Advice Workers to support Barbara, 85 and Alan, 88. The couple have been married for 60 years. They were referred to us in 2021 by one of Jewish Care’s Redbridge Jewish Community Centre volunteers. Alan was in hospital, following a fall, and Barbara was worried about how they would cope once he was discharged home with significantly increased care needs.
Throughout our involvement, Chris and Joanne visited Alan and Barbara frequently, creating a space to talk about how they were feeling and to explore how things could be improved. Often, they worked individually with Alan and Barbara, coming back together as a group at times, as their views and expectations sometimes differed. It was clear, however, that it was important to both of them to continue to maintain their independence together.
Alan had restricted mobility due to pre-existing medical conditions and was unable to leave his home due to his health needs. He came home with a large package of care, and equipment including a hoist, hospital bed and recliner chair. He needed to stay and be cared for in the lounge and their living space became overcrowded with equipment. He spent most of his time in bed, with just a few hours each day sitting in a chair. There was not enough space for him to manoeuvre his motorised wheelchair around the home. When Alan needed to leave the home for appointments, his accessibility was restricted due to the age of the house and the local authority adult care services team was unable to provide a suitable ramp. In many ways their family home was no longer suited to their needs and Alan’s independence and mobility were compromised.
Although Alan had the maximum of four care calls per day, he was still dependent on his wife for many aspects of his care and day to day routines. Barbara felt constantly ‘on call’ with no time for herself as she waited at home for her husband’s carers. The couple also had two dogs, needing care and attention and neither Alan nor Barbara were in a position to be able to walk them.
Chris and Joanne suggested Meals on Wheels were delivered by Jewish Care volunteers and the couple welcomed this to take some of the daily pressure off Barbara. They referred them to our Benefits team, made up of volunteers, who ensured they were in receipt of all relevant benefits. They also encouraged the couple to engage with The Cinnamon Trust charity, who were able to provide a dog walker several times per week.
Barbara has her own serious health concerns; she has macular degeneration in both eyes and is registered blind. The couple often found it overwhelming dealing with the bureaucracy and complexity of adult social services. For example, it was incredibly stressful for Barbara to arrange additional support for Alan to enable her to go for treatment in hospital. A taxi card application for Barbara also supported her with this as it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to use public transport. Chris and Joanne advocated for them with the local authority adult care services enabling additional care when needed, resulting in two respite stays for Alan at our Jewish Care Vi & John Ruben’s House care home.
The team also shared information about local independent living, supporting Barbara and Alan with the application process and to view properties until a suitable one was identified to meet both their needs. A few months later they were offered a property and moved home.
They now feel settled, and their quality of life is much improved. Barbara told us that she felt it was amazing and hugely supportive to know make quote marks big“there was always someone there to talk to and who could help.”
Alan said make quote marks big “we had been under a lot of pressure, so it was a great relief and reassuring for us not to have to cope with the problems on our own. We appreciated the warmth and support from Chris and Joanne.”
Without this support, Alan felt that Barbara might have had a breakdown and Barbara said she would not have been able to cope, and her husband would have had to go into permanent care, which neither of them wanted.
Instead, they told us, “it has been a very good outcome for both of us……we felt that we were still at the centre of what was happening and that you always included us, asked our views and we felt that you were both working on our behalf.”
Vitally, they felt they maintained and increased their independence because of the care, support and signposting we were able to provide.
This is one of the many reasons I am so proud of the work we do at Jewish Care and just one example of the amazing work our Social Work and Community Support Team does, supporting 1300 people each week and helping to improve their lives.
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