A day in the life of our Independence Team: Supporting our customers with dementia

To mark World Alzheimer’s Day 2020, we’ve spoken to three members of our Independence Team, Julie, Diana and Suzanne to learn about their role as Independence Advisors and hear how they are making a difference to customers with dementia.

What is your role all about?

In a nutshell it’s about helping customers of all ages who may need some support to maintain their independence.

We help our customers with all kinds of things, from reporting repairs or neighbourhood issues, to dealing with rent, benefit issues, and letters or forms they may need help with. We arrange aids and adaptations needed in customers' homes and connect them with local community groups and activities so they can keep up an active social life, too. We also link in with our Directions and Neighbourhoods teams, and local partners such as Age UK Oldham and Oldham Council to offer customers access to any other services that they would benefit from. 

Each customer is allocated a specific member of our team who looks after their case. In normal times we alternate weekly phone calls and home visits, but due to coronavirus we’re only delivering our service over the phone to keep our customers and team safe. Customers also have our phone numbers in case anything crops up between our visits or calls that they need support with.

For a lot of our customers, being able to reach us directly and not have to go through the Contact Centre is very reassuring. It’s a friendly voice for them to talk to and they feel confident getting in touch.

How do you support customers with dementia?

Between us, the Independence Service supports 12 customers with dementia. They are all at different stages of the disease and face a range of challenges like memory loss, problems with communication and difficulties with completing everyday tasks. It’s in our customers’ interests to live longer independently in their homes and that’s where our team comes in. Listening and getting to know our customers, learning and understanding what their particular needs are and acting on those needs to tailor our services to support them is so important in what we do.

Small changes to the way we communicate with customers with dementia can make a big difference to them and their quality of life. For example speaking to them slowly and calmly, being patient, listening carefully, and keeping things simple, avoiding complicated questions or giving complex instructions that they will be unable to follow. Routine is very important so we do our best to make our calls at the same time every week so the customers know when to expect us.

A lot of the time our role is about providing reassurance and a listening ear, because they can love to talk and tell you stories about their life, which is really interesting. Having someone there to listen means the world to them and the feedback says they look forward to our chats, which is great to hear.

On the practical side, we deal with day to day matters to help keep our customers with dementia – some of whom can be very vulnerable - safe in their home. For example, we remind them about security, locking their doors and checking who’s at the door before opening it; we help them remember to eat and drink properly because that’s so important for good health; and we spend quite a bit of time searching for lost keys and other items that have been misplaced. We’re all fans of writing notes for our customers to use as memory aids - anything to help keep them safe.

Our role also involves working with partner agencies and carers and keeping in contact with our customers’ families, updating them, discussing any issues or concerns, and being a point of contact.

Supporting our customers with dementia can be challenging, they do take more time than others, but that’s the nature of it and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Best part of the job?

Julie: Meeting different customers and helping them to remain independent in their own home. It’s really rewarding when we make a difference to those customers – sometimes they don’t realise which services are out there and what they can tap into to improve their life.

Diana: Visiting customers, gaining their trust and making a difference to them.

Suzanne: Making a difference to my customers, I love it.

Least favourite part of the job?

Julie and Diana: Being out in all weathers when we’re doing home visits!

Suzanne: It can be frustrating when customers don’t get back to me when I’ve called them. I need to know they are alright.

What do you like doing when you clock off?

Julie: This year I’m doing the 1000 mile walking challenge – walking 1000 miles in 12 months. I started in January, I’ve covered around 800 miles so far and I hope to hit my target soon. I aim to walk three miles a day, but it’s all about how I feel so some days I do more and other less. It’s a good way of de-stressing, getting exercise and enjoying the sunshine (when we’ve got it!). I’m really looking forward to hitting 1000 miles, I’m very determined, so watch this space!

Diana: Reading, music, helping with my daughter’s horses and dog sitting for her, and playing Solitaire.

Suzanne: I have a passion for jigsaws and knitting. I love going away in my caravan and my holidays too.

Our Independence Service

For more information about our Independence Service and how the team can help you or someone you know, visit the dedicated page on our website.