Community care

The Community Care Service provides help for people of all ages who experience difficulty coping with everyday activities due to disability, illness and/or the ageing process. The aim of Community Care is to provide a comprehensive service to enable people to remain as independent as possible within the community.

We can provide the following:

• An assessment of your ability and needs that generally takes place at home. During the assessment your physical, psychological, social and cultural needs and the needs of your carer will be taken into consideration.
• Advice to you and your carers on coping with problems that arise in everyday life as a result of your condition.
• Support services to assist individuals to live at home. This may include personal care, meals service, community alarm and day care.
• Admission to residential care for those individuals no longer able to live at home.
• A service to respond to and manage appropriately any concern about the protection of vulnerable adults.

You may be eligible for help with care if you:

• Are a resident in Aberdeen City. 
• Are having difficulty coping with daily living activities due to permanent or temporary illness and/or disability.
• Are having difficulty coping with daily living activities due to the ageing process.
• Have a terminal illness. 

Like most other authorities in Scotland, we have revised our eligibility criteria and have raised the threshold at which citizens can expect to receive a service. We have done this in order to protect our ability to provide vital care packages to those in greatest need.

Download the leaflet below to read more about our eligibility criteria.

You can get in touch with us yourself using the details below or if you prefer you can get someone else to do this on your behalf. The information taken is called a referral. Anyone can make a referral to our service as long as consent is given along with sufficient information to process your referral.

All information provided is treated with the strictest confidence and is only passed on with your consent. Your information is stored on the Aberdeen City Council computer system and only authorised staff have access to this. Also with your consent we may need to gather some information from your GP, District Nurse. Download the leaflet below for more information:

We prioritise your referral based on the information we receive about you. We need to prioritise referrals to ensure that those people in most need or at most risk receive our service first. We operate an emergency and high priority system. Our timescales are:

• Urgent – required now and within two weeks
• High – required within six weeks

Decisions on priority to be seen are made on the basis of the referral information we receive about you. We will always make individuals whose basic health and safety is at immediate risk our first priority.

• You will be contacted by a member of Community Care staff and a visit to assess your needs will be arranged. This will enable you to discuss any difficulties you are having.
• You may have someone present if you wish during your assessment.
• Together we will discuss the best possible solutions for you.

Think about the things that cause you difficulty before the worker visits. You might find things more difficult at certain times of day, or on different days. Several visits may be necessary to carry out a full assessment. You will discuss which activities you are having difficulty with, for example:

• Getting around the house e.g. walking around, using stairs, getting in/out of bed, on/off the toilet, chairs, using your wheelchair
• Managing personal care e.g. dressing, washing, getting in/out of the shower/bath
• Managing domestic tasks e.g. preparing meals, shopping, cleaning
• Managing eating and drinking
• Whether an informal carer is having difficulty looking after you
• Whether you have any difficulty seeing, hearing, communicating
• How easily do you become tired performing activities

It is also possible, in some circumstances, for you to be able to assess yourself, prior to a workers visit. Below are links to two of the most common assessments that people complete themselves.

• Single Shared Assessment

Below is the standard assessment that is completed for people who have difficulties with everyday activities. You can use this form to refer yourself for support. 

Following the assessment you will discuss with the worker the best possible solutions to enable you to remain as independent as possible. This may include:

• Liaison with and referral to other agencies – we work closely with health care and other social work staff so it may be appropriate to refer you to a different professional with your consent.
• Providing carers and/or support workers to assist you with tasks such as dressing, washing, preparing meals etc. Care would be taken to ensure that you remain as independent as possible.
• Providing a sitting service to stay with you in your home to allow an informal carer a break.
• Providing a bed in a care home for a short-term admission (respite). This would be to allow a main carer a break from their caring role.
• Providing a bed in a care home for a long-term admission. This would occur if your care needs could no longer be met within the community.

Some of these services may incur a charge - the worker who visits you will explain clearly what, if any, services being considered are chargeable. The worker may also, (depending on the services), perform a financial assessment to determine whether charges are applicable in your circumstances.

Direct Payments

If, following assessment, you are eligible to receive a service you can opt to receive a cash payment which can be used towards the purchase of the support that you require.

If you are unhappy with the service you receive or if you just wish to comment either favourably or unfavourably about the service you can do this in a number of ways. See the Social Work Comments or Complaints page for more details.