Short Term Care and Support

Care and Support at home

It may be that you need some short term care and support at home to help you to live independently. This may be for several reasons including:

• you are struggling to manage at home and would like to try out support first and see if it is helpful.
• you have a temporary health problem or mobility difficulty (e.g. you have broken a bone) and you are unable to manage as independently as you used to.
• you have recently been in hospital or have been unwell and would like to regain your confidence and independence at home.

There are three teams in York that currently provide temporary and short term care and support from a few days up to six weeks. This can be accessed via your GP, hospital and/or adult social care, depending on your circumstances.

What happens when your short term support ends?

If the short term support you have received has worked well, you may find that you are independent. However, if you do need longer-term support, you can have a conversation with social care staff who will discuss this with you and work with you to plan your future support.

Short term support due to unavailability of carer

It may be that short term support at home is required because your main carer is unavailable. In these circumstances please contact (01904) 555111 for information and advice.

Support in a care home

There are some occasions where, in discussion with you, where we agree that you would benefit from a stay in a care home or independent living accommodation for a short period of time.

This may be when:

• you are ready to leave hospital but are not quite ready to return home yet or the support that you need at home is not yet available.
• your property is not suitable for you to live in due to safety reasons and you have care and support needs.
• your carer is unavailable, for example, is in hospital or has a holiday planned and you are unable to be supported at home without them.

Please be aware that there may be a charge for this. Please visit the paying for care and support section for more information.

If you are in hospital, a member of staff will talk to you about this. If you are at home and would like advice about an unplanned or planned break in a care home, please contact (01904) 555111.

Shared Lives

Short term support is available through shared lives where carers open their homes to allow people to live with them on either a short or long term basis. Further information is available by visiting the Shared Lives website.

Homeshare York

Homeshare matches a homeowner who has a spare room and could benefit from support and/or companionship (the ‘Householder’) with a younger person who can provide 10 hours of help a week in exchange for accommodation (the ‘Homesharer’).

For a small monthly contribution Homeshare York will match you with someone who can offer support in return for sharing your home. A Homesharer could help with practical tasks - such as cleaning, shopping or gardening - or provide companionship and a reassuring overnight presence.

To ensure both householder and the sharer get the most from the service, we ask for a minimum commitment of 6 months.

Research in Practice have carried out a Homeshare interview with a match between two people to help you get a feel of how a match can work.

You can find out more, including if you are eligible at the City of York Council website or to speak to the Homeshare Coordinator call (01904) 554595.