Support available in your home
There are a range of support services and equipment available to help you maintain your independence and live safely at home.
Care at home
There are a number of Home Care providers who can help you with daily tasks, such as help with washing yourself or preparing meals, to enable you to continue living as independently as possible in your home.
The Council’s People First website includes information about Home Care Providers including a directory of local home care providers.
For more information and guidance visit the Support in your home pages on People First.
Reablement
Reablement is a short and intensive service, usually delivered in your home, that is offered to people recovering from an illness or injury, those with disabilities or those who are frail and would benefit from short-term support. It is often delivered following discharge from hospital.
Reablement’s purpose is to improve your ability to carry out daily tasks by yourself to restore or improve your independence. It concentrates on helping you regain lost skills - such as dressing yourself or preparing meals - acquire new ones, and restore your confidence at home following a change (for example, being in hospital).
Reablement is a programme of rehabilitation for up to 6 weeks, based on individual needs. The care is provided by a number of relevant professionals from both social care and health services.
You may be offered a reablement service either whilst you are in hospital or at home. Not everyone is eligible for reablement.
For more information and guidance visit the Regaining your independence pages on People First.
People First website
People First is Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster City Councils’ information and resource directory. It has been designed to help you find information on a whole range of health and social care topics, including:
- health and wellbeing
- looking after someone (being a carer)
- money and legal matters
- being at home
- work and learning
- staying safe
It also provides information on local groups, activities and services within both Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster communities.
The site is updated regularly with new services, activities and events, and topical information and advice.
Visit the People First website.
Equipment to help you at home
A common problem for many people is that they find it increasingly difficult to do the things they used to do at home. If you find that you are having difficulty with day-to-day activities such as having a bath or a shower, getting around your home, or going up and down the stairs, there may be specialist equipment available to help you do these things more easily and safely.
Equipment, and in some cases adaptations to your home, can also help you live more independently and confidently, encourage you to feel more safe, and help you get out and about.
There are many different types of equipment that might help, such as:
- Bath seats
- Trolleys for carrying things around your home
- Raised toilet seats and commodes
- Specially adapted beds and chairs
- Grab rails around your home to help your stability
Visit the People First website for information on Equipment to help at home.
Occupational Therapy from the Council
If you have more complex needs, you may benefit from having an assessment from the Occupational Therapy (OT) service. Occupational therapists help people of all ages overcome the effects of disability caused by illness, ageing or accident so that they can carry out everyday tasks or occupations.
The OT service can also advise on appropriate equipment and adaptations to suit your individual needs so that you can live at home safely and independently. There is a wide range of equipment available from the Council.
For more information and guidance including how to ask for an OT assessment, visit the Equipment to help at home pages and Maintaining or adapting your home on People First.
Community Alarm Service
Community Alarm is a 24-hour service that provides help and assistance if you need to contact someone quickly in case of an accident or emergency.
The alarm system is installed in your home using a telephone unit. You then operate the alarm when needed by pressing a button – either on a pendant worn around your neck or on the telephone unit – which sets off an alarm in the control centre.
Control centre staff will then be able to talk to you wherever you are in your home, even if you have fallen. You do not have to lift your telephone handset or touch the phone at all. If you cannot speak, they will still be able to identify you and provide help.
They then contact family members or other people who may have keys to visit you and provide support.
For more information and guidance visit the Community Alarm Service pages on People First.
Telecare
Telecare is a range of gadgets that are designed to prompt and assist you with your everyday activities, such as reminding you to take your medication or to alert you if you have left your bathroom taps running. Some of this equipment can also alert our Community Alarm Service control room, described above. Telecare equipment includes:
- fall sensors to identify if you or your loved one has fallen
- wandering systems to identify if you or a loved one has wandered away from home
- bed, chair and floor sensors to identify if you or a loved one is moving about regularly at home, and where
- epilepsy sensors to identify if you or a loved one has had a fit
For more information and guidance visit the Gadgets to help you stay safe pages on People First.