Help available
Arranging help for someone you love can be a lot to take in, especially the first time. These short guides explain things in plain English, so you can decide what matters to you and your family.
Hiring a carer or cleaner
Short guides to help you choose with confidence. None of these checks is required; they are simply things worth knowing.
- DBS checks: an option worth knowing aboutWhat a DBS check is, the different levels, and what to look for if someone shows you a certificate.
- Proof of insurancePublic liability insurance, and three quick things to check on the certificate.
- References, and what to do if there aren’t anyHow to take up a reference, and other ways to feel confident if there are none.
- Questions for a first meetingQuestions worth asking when you first meet, from experience to keys and payment.
- Agreeing terms in writingWhat a simple written agreement could cover, and why employment status matters.
- Hiring a cleanerWhat to agree with a cleaner, from keys and products to a trial clean.
- Employing a carer, or using a self-employed oneWhy employment status matters, and what an employer has to do.
Support available
Plain-English guides to the help that families and carers can get.
- Getting a care needs assessmentFree from the council, whatever your savings: how to ask and what happens next.
- Attendance AllowanceNot means-tested and often missed: who can get it, how much and how to claim.
- Carer's AllowanceFor family carers giving 35 hours a week or more: who can get it and how to claim.
- Council Tax reductionsDiscounts many families miss, including for dementia, disability and carers.
- Power of attorneyLasting power of attorney, and why it's worth arranging early.
- A carer's assessment for youSupport for the family member doing the caring, free from the council.
- Paying for careCouncil funding, means tests, direct payments and NHS continuing healthcare.
- Help at homeEquipment, adaptations, Disabled Facilities Grants and Blue Badges.
- Living with dementiaNational helplines, where to find local support, and what a carer can help with.
- Leaving hospitalWhat support to ask for at discharge, including free short-term care.
- Looking after yourselfRespite, carers' groups and centres, and help for the carer.
- Pension CreditOften missed, and it unlocks other help, from Council Tax to a free TV licence.
- NHS continuing healthcareFully NHS-funded care for complex health needs, and how the assessment works.
Everyday living
Practical ideas, and free help, for when eyesight, hearing, memory or getting about become harder.
- Making a home dementia-friendlyLighting, contrasting colours, labels, clocks and other simple changes.
- Living with sight lossFree eye tests, low vision help, talking books and talking newspapers.
- Living with hearing lossFree NHS hearing aids, and devices for the phone, TV and doorbell.
- Everyday aids and gadgetsSimple gadgets for the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and getting dressed.
- Getting out and aboutWalking aids, wheelchairs, mobility scooters and free bus passes.
- Falls and personal alarmsPreventing falls, what to do after one, and personal alarms and key safes.
- Free help for older peoplePrescriptions, eye tests, bus passes, heating payments, TV licence and more.
- Blue BadgesWho can get one, including for dementia, how to apply and the rules.
We're adding more guides on the support families and carers may be entitled to.
Wondering why we started? Read Martin's story.