Older people's services
Who can get help?
Walsall older people’s services helps people over 65. If you are over 65 and have an illness, a disability or if you have become frail because of age we may be able to help you. We may also be able to help your carer.
What help can I get?
We offer a range of services to older people and their carers. We will always aim to help you to be as independent as possible. We offer short term help or help with day to day tasks like shopping, getting in and out of bed, having meals and getting out and about to do activities during the day.
We can also offer breaks to you or your carer or extra support to your carer.
Some examples of the kinds of help we can give are below:
- Meals service / meals on wheels
- Community alarms
- Home care
- Day care
- Help leaving hospital or preventing an avoidable stay in
- hospital
- Residential and nursing care
- Help with hearing loss and sight loss
- Occupational therapy
- Equipment and adaptations
- Protecting people from abuse
- Help for carers
- Direct payments
For more information on these services contact the social services locality team nearest to where you live. You can also contact the public information officer on 01922 658368 for leaflets on these topics.
How do I get help?
After you contact us, one of our staff will arrange to meet with you to talk with you about yourself and what you feel you need help with. This is called an assessment. We will ask you questions like:
- What can you do for yourself?
- What do you need help with?
- What do you need to have done?
- Does anyone help you or look after you at the moment?
You are welcome to have a relative or friend at the assessment. Your carer can also have a separate assessment for their needs, if they wish. We may also ask health colleagues to contribute to the assessment to make sure your health needs are included.
You can contact us for an assessment by calling the locality office nearest to you. Our staff will let you know whether or not you may qualify for a service. We may need to see you to make a decision about this. How long it takes for us to meet with you will depend on how urgent your situation is.
After talking to you, we will work out what help, if any, we are able to give to you. For more information about who we can help contact the public information officer on 01922 658368 and ask for a list of our other leaflets.
If we can help you, the next step is to sit down with you and write a care plan. This plan will say what help we have agreed with you, who will be giving it to you and when and where it will take place. We will review this plan with you from time to time based on your needs and the kind of help you are getting.
If we cannot help you we will give you details of other agencies or organisations that may be able to help you.
How much will these services cost?
You may be asked to pay for some of the help we give you. How much you pay will depend on your income and the amount of help you need. When we come to talk about your needs we will also talk to you about your finances. We will ask you questions about your income, your savings and how much you spend each week or each month.
This will help us to work out how much you have to pay. We will explain any charges to you and tell you how we have worked them out. For more information on what our services cost view our fairer charging page or contact the public information officer on 01922 658368 and ask for a copy of our ‘Fairer Charging’ leaflet.
If you are getting help from us you can choose to have the money to pay for these services and choose who you want to carry out the services for you. This is called direct payments. For more information view our direct payments page or contact the public information officer on 01922 658368 and ask for a copy of our ‘Direct Payments’ leaflet.
We can also help you to find out if you are able to claim any benefits. You will not be charged for any health services if they are included in your care plan.
Contact details
To find out more about getting help from older people’s services call the locality team nearest to where you live.
For more help and advice
Age Concern Walsall
50 Lower Hall Lane Walsall WS1 1RJ
Telephone 01922 638825
Citizens Advice Bureau
139-143 Lichfield Street Walsall WS1 1SE
Telephone 01922 700600
Princess Royal Trust Walsall Carers Centre
The Crossing at St. Paul’s Darwall Street Walsall WS1 1DA
Telephone 01922 636663