Barbara's Story

I gave up work in Social Services in 2006 in order to help my parents who were in their mid-eighties at the time. My home is in Salisbury and I used to stay over in Bath for 4 days a week supporting Dad in his role as the main carer for Mum who suffers from memory loss.

Unfortunately Dad’s health failed in January 2009 and he eventually had to go to a nursing home. At this point I became Mum’s full-time  carer, as she could not safely be left alone.

Dad died in Sept 2009 and since then I have been trying to keep Mum’s life as predictable as possible with food, daily routines and the home where she lives.

Although I had a sitting service for 2 hours a week, I was finding that this only gave me the opportunity to rush down into Bath to sort out Mum’s financial affairs and Dad’s will. What I really needed was a whole day off a month to go over to Salisbury and sort my own life out a bit!

Crossroads (via the Give Us A Break Scheme) has come to the rescue and provided Lesley who cares for Mum from 9.30 – 4.30. This enables me to check my house, have a hair/dental/optician’s appointment, meet a friend for lunch in Salisbury and keep my sanity.

The reason I like Lesley’s approach is that she is willing to pick up where I leave off and sees what needs doing on each particular occasion. She does not force herself on Mum or come with a preset list of tasks to be performed.  She gives Mum space, encourages her to be involved where possible and converses with her appropriately. Mum finds it reassuring to have the same carer each time to give continuity and she seems to accept Lesley partly because of the uniform which makes it “official”.

Lesley adapts to what Mum needs on the day and does for her what I would be doing. This is very reassuring to me, so I can relax when I am out. I very much appreciate the service.

« Back to Case Studies | Posted on 01/01/1970