Planning for the future
For you or for the people who support you
Planning for the future do you ever think about how you would like to be looked after if you become unwell?
What you would and wouldn’t want to happen?
Here are some things you might want to think about or put in place now to help both you and anyone supporting you.
Applying for Benefits
Disability allowance
If you have a physical or mental disability you may be entitled to an allowance which helps with extra costs of having this disability and to help you live more independently. These include: Attendance Allowance, Personal Independent Payments or Disability Living Allowance.
Support in applying for benefits:
Citizens Advice Sheffield Call: 0808 278 7820
For pension aged benefits:
Age UK Sheffield – Call: 0114 250 2850
This Is Me
It is really good for people in health and social care to understand who you are and what you need so that they can keep you well and treat you the way you would like to be treated.
By filling out the This Is Me form it can help anyone supporting you as it tells them more about you and your likes and dislikes.
Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)
LPA can help people who may need someone to act on their behalf. Two types:
- Financial decisions – Such as paying bills, arranging repairs to property or even selling a property. You could decide that you want help now or decide that you only want help if you can no longer make these decisions for yourself (capacity).
- Health and care decisions – For instance where you should live, medical care, what you should eat, etc. This can only start if you can no longer make these decisions for yourself.
When: Best set up as soon as possible. If at some point you can no longer make decisions for yourself you won’t be able to then get an LPA for yourself.
How:
- Yourself – For online information
- Age UK Sheffield – offer a free 30min advice session with a solicitor. Call 0114 250 2850 or For Information
- Sheffield Carers Centre – offer a free 30min advice session with a solicitor. Call 0114 272 8362 (10am to 4pm)
- Citizens Advice Sheffield – For Information or call 0808 278 7820 (10am to 4pm)
Planning Your Hospital Discharge
If you do need to go into hospital and are worried about how you will manage after discharge, speak to the nurse in charge of the ward about this. Depending on the ward you can be referred to the Front Door Response Team (FDRT) or the Transfer of Care team (TOC.) They will assess what is required for you to be safely discharged from hospital. This might include support from carers, physiotherapists and occupational therapists as well as equipment or adaptations to your home. More information
Planning for a Care Home
Many people with dementia stay at home throughout their dementia journey but staying in a care home can also be a very positive experience for some people. So, it can be useful to chat about this as early as possible. You can decide what would be important to you and maybe even visit a few homes to get a feel for them.
Sheffield City Council has produced a good guide to help you with this: Guide to residential and nursing care in Sheffield
Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
(DNACPR)
No matter who we are we should all think about our end-of-life preferences. Part of this is whether we would like a resuscitation attempt made if there was a need to restart the heart. No matter what you chose you will continue to receive any other treatment and your healthcare team / GP will give you the best possible care.
Unfortunately, resuscitation (CPR) often doesn’t work. When attempted in a hospital, about 4 out of 10 patients it is successful in restarting the heart and breathing. However, only about 2 out of 10 patients survive long enough to leave hospital. Some patients return to normal but many will have long term health problems after CPR. Most patients never get back the physical or mental health they had before they were resuscitated. Some may have bruised or broken ribs (occurring during CPR), some have brain damage or go into a coma. If you decide you do not want a resuscitation attempt made your doctors and nurses will still continue to give the best possible treatment available for your comfort and quality of life.
This guide from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals discusses CPR in more detail: Clcik here for Information
When: Discuss this as soon as possible if this appropriate.
It is best done now rather than at a time of emergency where you might feel pressured to make a decision. If you would like someone who supports you to make these decisions on your behalf will need a LPA in place before they can do this.
How: Tell your healthcare team / GP what you would like.
They must follow your wishes.
Who else can I talk to about this?
- A member of staff involved in your care
- Your family, friends & carers
- Organisations – such as Age UK Sheffield,
- Alzheimer’s Society call 0333 150 3456 (FREE) or For information
- NHS 111 helpline
Advance Care Planning
Thinking more about the advanced stages of dementia can be useful so that you can decide what you would like or not want:
- Finding out the different options available
- Is there anything that you would definitely not want to happen?
- Is there something you feel strongly about?
- Do you have any beliefs you want respected?
Supporting someone to help plan their future
You may be able play a key role is helping the person you support to make decisions. These could be around finances, care, end of life and other areas given in this document. We know that many of these decisions can be difficult to discuss and sometimes people need more support and information to help guide them.
We also know that these decisions are best made as soon as possible. If the health or mental capacity of the person you are supporting gets worse it can be very stressful to try and make decisions in an emergency situation or even to try to think what they would have wanted. This can lead to feelings of guilt or even disagreements with other people in the persons life. By supporting the person with dementia now means that they have control to make their own choices.
Inform your GP that you care for someone else
By informing your GP that you are a carer they will be better able to understand that you have this responsibility and be able to guide and support you with this responsibility in mind.
Applying for Benefits: Carers Allowance
If you spend 35 hours a week or more supporting someone you maybe entitled to a benefit to help cover some of the extra costs. This could be for washing and cooking, taking the person you care for to a doctor’s appointment or helping with household tasks, like managing bills and shopping. For information: Carer’s Allowance – GOV.UK and Carer’s allowance | Age UK
Support in applying for benefits:
Age UK Sheffield – Call: 0114 250 2850
Citizens Advice Sheffield Call: 0808 278 7820
Register with the Sheffield Carers Centre: Call 0114 272 8362
Sheffield Carers Centre is a key organisation who can help to support you whilst you are supporting your person with dementia. They offer:
- Carers Assessment (see next section)
- Carers Card: which gives you discounts in hundreds of places across Sheffield Carer Card | Sheffield Carers Centre
- A newsletter to help keep you connected with any support which may be of benefit to you
- A support line for any advice you might need around caring Call 0114 272 8362 or Carer Advice Line | Sheffield Carers Centre
To Register with them: Either discuss this with a professional already supporting you such as a Dementia
Carers Assessment
You are all legally entitled to a Carers Assessment to assess your needs so that you can continue to offer care to your person. It assesses areas like:
- Your physical, emotional and social wellbeing
- Any other caring roles you have as well as your main one
- Employment/Education/Training needs
- Your finances, including benefits
- Information/Advocacy/Advice
- Breaks from caring/time for yourself
When:
Now. There is a usually a long waiting list to be assessed
How:
Via Sheffield Carers Centre on 0114 272 8362 (10am to 4pm) or For Information
Planning for an emergency
If you ever have an emergency you might want to have information already available to others so that the person you are supporting continues to be supported whilst you cannot do so. This might include key people who care for them, what their physical needs are and what are their preferences. Here is a good form you can fill in now: Plan for an Emergency | Sheffield Carers Centre
Herbert Protocol – to help find a person who is missing
Fill this form in now with the person you are supporting. It contains key information which can help the police and anyone else to search for them. Such information includes their description, old addresses and places they like to visit. Herbert Protocol – Southyorks Police
