Emma’s story
12
My grandma is 74 years old
and has dementia. My grandad
cares for her during the day, and I
care for her in the evening and at
weekends.
We had assumed that grandad
wouldn’t be entitled to any
support, especially as the doctors
and the people from social
services that he deals with every
day didn’t mention it.
I found out about Upfront in a
newsletter from my employer, and
decided to give it a go.
Using Upfront was simple and
straightforward – even my
85-year-old grandad could use it!
After completing it together and
reading our personalised summary,
we realised that grandad could
request a carer’s assessment from
social services. This has allowed
him to support my grandma with
specialised respite care, so he can
get a well-deserved break and a
weekly game of golf!
Caring day-in, day-out for my
grandma, dealing with her high
support needs and aggressive
behaviour, affects both our health
– without this small amount of
respite that my grandad now gets, I
believe we would have hit breaking
point.
Upfront is a free online tool that can help you
get straight to the information you need.
Visit carersuk.org/upfront to give it a go!
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