A client with a husband and five children was struggling with arthritis and a long-term history of depression. Her mental health problems heavily affected her ability to retain information and deal with problems in the home effectively.
Two staircases in their home did not have adequate stair rails and this resulted in a fall where our client ended up in hospital. This made it very difficult for her to feel safe on the stairs and when moving around the home.
The home was also poorly insulated and there was a leak in their bath which came through the floor to the ceiling in the room below.
Following the fall on the stairs, the family contacted Care & Repair, who arranged for a Support Worker to visit for a home assessment.
The Solution
Through the Home Plus Team the Support Worker arranged for the seal around the bath to be repaired, preventing more leaking, via our Hazard Repairs service. They also used our Falls Prevention service to arrange for a new stair rail to be fitted along with additional grab rails at the front door.
The Support Worker found that the client was overwhelmed with maintaining the home through the build-up of damp. The central heating was not working downstairs so it was arranged for a heating engineer to repair the heating system so that all areas of the home stayed warm.
Green Doctors also visited to fit draught-proofing to various doors which significantly improved a previously poor insulation issue around the home. The smoke alarm was also found to be faulty, so a fast-track referral to the Fire Service was made for replacement alarms.
