If you are caring for someone with health problems or a disability you are entitled to an assessment of your own needs, even if the person you care for doesn’t want or need services themselves.
How to get help if you are a carer
Contact Carers Leeds for advice and support on 0113 380 4300. Further contact details can be found on the
Carers Leeds website. Carers Leeds will meet with you to assess your situation and see how they can help (including emotional support and encouragement as well as physical help). They will also discuss how you might access services they provide. Most carers are helped in this way but, if you need further help Carers Leeds will liaise with the Social Worker Team to ensure your needs are assessed.
If you look after a child please call 0113 222 4403.
If you are not a carer find out how social care can
assess your needs.
What is an assessment?
It is simply the way professional workers from Health or Social Care organisations find out what your caring situation is, and what would help you to continue providing the help and support or personal care you are giving your relative, partner, friend or neighbour. You can watch a video about
assessing care needs in British Sign Language (BSL)
How can an assessment help?
An assessment could help you in many ways, for example it could help you to get:
- the opportunity for your voice to be heard in any decisions the person you care for may make about getting services in the future
- advice about benefits and managing your finances
- caring services to help share the caring
- services to give you a break from caring
- help with any health problems you may have
- equipment or adaptations in the home of the person you care for to make caring for them physically easier for you
- contact with other carers in similar positions to yourself
- help to find information about the condition and treatment of the health condition of the person you are helping
- someone to talk to about your situation
- information about what might be available in the future if you required help
- services for the person you care for to make it easier for you to continue working
- help to think about and plan what would happen if an emergency situation meant you could not care for your loved one
- help to consider how you achieve things in your everyday life, for example, study, work, give up work or do more socially
Before an assessment
You might want to think about the following
- Do you get enough sleep?
- Is your health affected in any way?
- Are you able to get out and about?
- Do you get time for yourself?
- Are your other relationships affected?
- Do you want information about benefits?
- Are you worried you may have to give up work?
- Is the person you care for getting enough help?
Also, have a think about what help you might need if your circumstances change in the future. For example, older carers may have concerns about what will happen after their deaths to the person they cared for.
Young carers
If you are a young carer (a carer under 18), please visit our
Young Carers page for further information.
