Your self assessment guidance
If you feel you are in immediate risk of harm, then call 999. If you have a specific concern about abuse or neglect, then you can:
Printable version and easy read versions of this information:
Printable version - Online Self Assessment Help Sheet (390 KB)
Easy read version - Easy Read Self Assessment Guidance (1.9 MB)
On this page:
- Explains what a care needs assessment and a self-assessment is.
- Gives an overview of how you can prepare for your assessment.
- Tells you what areas of your life will be discussed during your assessment.
- Explains what happens after your assessment.
- Provides useful information to consider when completing the assessment.
What is a care needs assessment?
- If you think you have any care and support needs, you are entitled to a free care needs assessment.
- The assessment is an opportunity to tell us about your situation and discuss your care needs, so we can understand your point of view and see if you are eligible for care and support.
- The assessment looks at how your needs impact on your wellbeing and the outcomes you would like to achieve in your daily life.
- Following an assessment, we can only provide social care support to those who are eligible. Most people will end up paying for some or all of their own care.
How is a care needs assessment carried out?
Complete a self-assessment online
- You can ask someone to support you with completing your self-assessment, such as a family member, friend, or advocate. Once you’ve started completing an online assessment, you have 28 days to finish it (after 28 days, you will have to restart the form again).
- Community help points can also assist you.
With a social care practitioner
- If you would like to speak with someone to complete an assessment, you can ring Staffordshire Cares on 0300 111 8010.
What will the online self-assessment do?
The online supported self-assessment will:
- Offer information and advice about support to help you live independently.
- Help you explore your support needs.
- Help you consider areas where you want to make a change and any support you may need to do this.
- Help you use your strengths and capabilities in making the changes you want.
When you submit your assessment an adult social care practitioner from the First Contact Team will contact you. This maybe to offer more advice and guidance or to continue your assessment and consider your eligibility for our services.
What needs might be eligible for care and support?
- Your needs could be eligible if you are not able to do a combination of certain things that significantly affect your wellbeing.
- These may include washing yourself, getting dressed, going to work, college or volunteering or keeping your home safe for you to live in.
How should I prepare for a care needs assessment?
- To make the most of the care needs assessment, you may want to prepare by thinking about the areas you will be asked about. This may include:
- Difficulties you are facing and how you currently manage these challenges
- What you hope to continue to do, and what you would like to be able to do
- The things you are getting help with and who helps you
- This might seem like a lot, but it is important to think about every aspect of your life to make sure you get the right level of support. If you don’t tell us about the difficulties you have, you may not be given the right advice, information, or support. We also need to plan ahead and to consider contingency support for you if your care and support network was no longer able to continue the level of support they currently give you.
- It may help you by thinking about what an average day is like for you, and what makes a particularly ‘good day’ or a particularly ‘bad day’.
- Think about what happens at different times of the day, such as in the Morning, Afternoon, Evening and Night.
What areas of my life will be assessed?
The areas that you are being assessed are all as important as one another.
Some areas that might be discussed during your assessment are listed below.
You may decide some of these areas are more relevant than others and that some do not apply to you, you do not have to go into detail if the topic is not relevant to you.
- Day to day activities eating and drinking, shopping, laundry, cleaning
- Personal care personal hygiene, toilet needs, clothing
- Mobility getting out and about, falls, transfers
- Home and living situation maintaining a habitable and safe environment
- Physical health and wellbeing
- Relationships and social activities
- Involvement in work, education or training
- Emotional wellbeing and mental health
- Accessing the local community getting out and about and meeting friends and/or new people
- Caring responsibilities
- Safety and risk issues
- Current support
What happens after the assessment?
At the end of the assessment, we will decide if you are eligible for our support based on eligibility criteria set out in social care legislation (The Care Act 2014).
The Care Act 2014 says that your needs must relate to a physical or mental impairment or illness, and as a result of your needs you are unable to achieve 2 or more specified outcomes (which is likely to result in a significant impact on your wellbeing) which cover:
- Basic living skills.
- Making sure you are safe and can live well in your own home.
- Being able to use your local community.
- Being able to work or volunteer.
If you have eligible needs, we will:
Discuss what is important to you and how you would like your needs met. This could include:
- Getting support from a voluntary organisation.
- Help with making sure you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to.
- A piece of equipment to make you feel safe.
- Money for you to access a universal service in the community.
- Getting support at home from a care agency.
Work with you to develop a care and support plan
- Your care and support plan will set out how your eligible needs will be met. We will support you to organise the right balance of care and support services to achieve the goals in your plan.
- You can put the plan together on your own, with the help of your family and friends or with our help.
Assess how much you need to pay towards your care and support
- Once we have agreed your care and support, we will assess how much you need to pay towards it by completing a financial assessment.
- A financial assessment looks at your capital (such as savings and investments) and your weekly income (which includes most pensions and benefits) to see how much you will need to pay towards the cost of your support.
- We use guidelines set by the government to decide this.
If you do not have any eligible needs, we will:
- Provide information and advice on what can be done to meet or reduce the needs, for example, what support might be available in the community.
- Provide guidance around what preventative measures you can take to prevent or delay the development of needs in the future.
What should I include in my self-assessment?
The below information is intended to give you a guide of what to include in each section of your self-assessment. If the information is not applicable to you, it is fine to leave it and go onto the next relevant section.
The information below follows the layout of the assessment form, so you can work through them together.
Please use the following index to navigate to the section you are looking for information:
This section asks you to answer several questions regarding your personal information, such as who is completing the assessment, whether you are a UK citizen and who you would like to be listed as your next of kin / emergency contact.
The questions in this section allow you share with us aspects of your day-to-day life, identifying the areas that you may require support. These answers will form the basis for the overall assessment outcome.
This section will cover personal care, living well at home, eating and drinking, safety in the home and getting out and about.
- It is important to include what help, if any, that you currently receive. For example, a neighbour may do your weekly shopping for you, or a family member might support you to get washed and dressed each day.
- Tell us the reason for the assessment, what is most important to you and what you would like to achieve? Think about your independence is there an impact on this? What is that impact, and how can we support you?
- What have you tried before to help you? This could be equipment you have purchased, technology that you have used, and people who have supported you in the past.
In this section we want you to tell us everything about how you live well at home. This includes washing yourself, cleaning your teeth, using the toilet, and taking care of your appearance. We also would like you to think of any contingency plans that you have in place in case something happens to you whilst at home.
Washing:
Think about having a bath or shower, washing yourself, brushing your teeth and hair, shaving, clipping your nails and anything else you do to keep clean and fresh.
- Do you need help getting washed or dried?
- Do you rely on equipment such as a shower seat or grab rails to make washing and drying easier?
- Can you wash and dry yourself properly and safely?
Appearance:
Feeling clean and comfortable can be about more than washing. Looking after our hair, skin and nails can help us feel like ourselves.
- Can you look after your personal appearance in the way you like?
- Washing and changing your clothes regularly will help you feel clean, comfortable and fresh. Can you wash and dry your clothes, or is this household task becoming difficult or painful?
Using the toilet:
Now think about your experience of getting to your toilet in time.
- Can you get to your bathroom or toilet? Can you use the toilet?
- How do you manage when using the toilet? Do you rely on equipment such as a grab rail to get on or off the toilet? Or maybe someone else helps you to clean yourself properly?
- Do you feel in control of when you need to go to the toilet?
- Do you wear incontinence pads or does someone remind you to go to the toilet?
Contingency plans:
There are also questions that ask you to think about whether you consider yourself deaf, sight impaired or deafblind and whether you have arrangements in place if something happens to you.
- In this section it is important to include what arrangements are in place in the event of a sudden change or emergency.
- For example, what solutions are in place if your carer was to become ill?
- What plans are in place for your pets/house in the event of a hospital admission or provision of home care accommodation?
- Who are your emergency contacts?
- Who has keys to your house?
In this section, you can tell us about your eating and drinking habits.
Drinking:
When you don’t drink enough water, you can get dehydrated and are more likely to get headaches and feel tired.
- How often do you have a drink throughout the day?
Eating:
It’s important to think about your eating habits and how often you eat.
- Does your daily routine consist of 3 nutritional meals?
- Do you prefer to graze on snacks and eat less set meals?
Food Shopping:
The first step to eating/drinking well is how you plan your food shopping.
- Is it easy to check your fridge and cupboards for what you need?
- Can you write your own shopping list?
- You might find doing your shopping in person helps your physical and mental wellbeing. Or you may prefer the convenience of online shopping because it gives you more independence. Are you able to do your own shopping either in person or online? Do you require someone to do the shopping on your behalf?
Preparing meals:
- Are you managing to prepare your own meals, drinks and snacks, or is this becoming difficult?
- Do you need support from a carer/family to help prepare meals?
- Does a local organisation deliver prepared meals to your home?
- Another option is healthy ready meals that you can pop in the microwave. Are you able to do that safely?
Comfort whilst eating/drinking:
It's important that you're comfortable to enjoy your food at meal times.
- Think about how you find sitting down to eat or drink. Do you find it tricky to use your utensils, plates, bowls and cups?
- Could the right equipment make eating and drinking safer and more enjoyable?
Health conditions that impact eating/drinking:
Some health conditions cause a reduced desire to eat, or you may have a small appetite. It maybe that you can prepare all of your meals but have difficulty swallowing.
- Do you have any health conditions that may impact your ability to eat and drink?
- Do you need regular reminders to eat and drink enough, or find the day just passes you by?
In this section, you can tell us about making use of your home safely.
Leaving and Returning Home:
We need to look at how you manage when you’re leaving or returning home. This includes your ability to lock or unlock doors and windows to keep your property secure.
- Can you enter and leave your home easily and safely? Are there any steps outside the property which you find difficult to manage?
Home Layout:
We also want you to think about the layout of your home. You may find some rooms or areas of your home are difficult to access.
- Can you move around your home easily and safely?
- How do you manage when getting in and out of bed? Or standing up from your armchair? Perhaps you rely on someone else or some equipment to help you get up. Equipment can include things such as (but not limited to) a lifeline, key safe, perching stool, walking stick, grab rails, commode, raised toilet seat, chair raiser or specialist bed.
- Has your home been adapted in any way? This could include things such as a wet room, ramps, stair lift etc.
- Do you need any support or aids to help you move more safely?
Home appliances:
Home appliances such as ovens and heaters can help make life easier and more comfortable.
- Can you use your home appliances safely and without risk of injury?
- Can you carry out essential home maintenance or arrange for someone else to do it for you?
Cleaning:
Regularly cleaning essential areas such as your kitchen and bathroom will help you live in a home free from harmful germs or the risk of infestation. A tidy un-cluttered home can also improve your mood and help prevent trips and falls.
- Can you keep essential areas of your home clean and tidy?
Managing Bills:
We all need access to household amenities such as water, electricity and gas to live a normal comfortable life. Keeping track of rent or mortgage payments, utility bills or other household expenses can be a challenge for some people.
- Can you manage your essential household bills?
In this section, you can tell us about how you access your local shops, facilities, and services.
Accessing Facilities:
Using your local facilities depends on whether you can travel around your community. There are different transport options for getting out and about. Your preferred method will depend on your own circumstances.
- Can you get to your local shops and leisure facilities?
Undertaking Activities:
Arriving at your destination is one thing, but then carrying out the task at hand is not always straightforward. Maybe you’re feeling lost because you’ve forgotten what you went for. Or perhaps you need someone to help you manage your money.
- Can you do your own shopping or use your local recreational facilities?
Attending Appointments:
You might need a bit of extra support with healthcare appointments. This could be because you find it hard to understand or remember everything being said to you. Or maybe you need some help with decision-making. For support with healthcare appointments please contact GP/Clinics directly or hospital/clinics/out patient departments directly.
- Do you need support when attending appointments?
Contributing Towards Society:
Self-improvement and a feeling of contributing towards society can be achieved through work, training, study or volunteering.
- Is that something that appeals to you? If it is, there are various ways of finding out about the latest careers and courses.
- Do you know where to look for opportunities available to you?
Travel:
There are different ways of travelling to and from work or college depending on your circumstances, from driving, taking a taxi or arranging a lift, to using public transport, walking and cycling.
- Can you safely travel to and from your place of work or education?
Completing Activities at work or college:
When you’re at work or college you might need some support to help you complete your tasks or studies. The level of support depends on your needs and could range from help with travel, equipment and adaptations to more specialist assistance like a support worker or interpreter.
- Do you need support to do your job or take part in training, education or volunteering activities?
This section asks about relationships, caring responsibilities, and health conditions.
Relationships:
Taking part in social activities/hobbies can be beneficial for your physical and mental wellbeing. Meeting new people can help you feel part of your local community.
- Do you have the opportunity to meet new people and make friends?
- Can you meet up with family and friends? (at home, or out?)
Technology can help you feel more connected with others. You could try to speak to your social circle via your phone, computer or social media.
- Can you use technology to stay in touch with family and friends?
You might need someone else to support you to go to a community venue or activity. Or you might need help from a speech and language therapist so you can communicate with your family or friends.
- Do you need support to build family or other personal relationships?
Caring Responsibilities:
Think about whether you provide support to others at home. This might be parental duties, but also includes responsibilities towards step-children/grandchildren or you might be a carer for someone.
- Do you provide support to others at home?
- Do you find it challenging to keep your home clean and safe for everyone you live with?
- How do you feel about essential day-to-day caring role tasks?
- Do your own care needs make it difficult to undertake these tasks?
Health Conditions:
It is important that you inform us of any health or long term conditions which you have. If you do not share your health conditions it may have an impact upon the outcome of this assessment.
- How do these conditions affect your day-to-day life?
- How do they prevent you from doing the things which you enjoy?
- What challenges do you have?
- How do your conditions have an impact on your day-to-day life?
- What would you like to do but you can’t because of your conditions?
This section asks questions around your finances, including managing household bills and budgeting, any assets or capital that you may have, and details surrounding financial representatives, Lasting Power of Attorney, and deputyships.
This final section provides a space for you to add any further information that you would like to share with us.