Step #3 – Be assertive!!!!

When you’re trying to get something you want, or in this case NEED, there’s nothing like a bit of assertiveness to make sure everyone knows you mean business!

Life can be exhausting enough for disabled people and/or those caring for someone and often the last thing they want to do is become the champion of their care package.

Unfortunately however, the reality is that if you want to get what you are entitled to (or at least get it within a reasonable time frame) then it will help you enormously if you can muster the strength to ‘lead the charge’ and make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to.

One of the main reasons the process of assessment often takes so long is quite simply lack of communication between the different people involved. So by, for example, phoning/emailing people on a regular basis, you can make sure they haven’t ‘forgotten’ you.

This will involve being a little bit more forceful than you are perhaps used to, social workers and such like often have a large case load and tend to put off (like all of us) the things that don’t need to be done immediately. All you really need to do is make sure your case stays near the top of the pile and doesn’t get relegated to the ‘no go’ pile of paperwork in the corner of their office!

Now up until this point, you’re probably thinking “this sounds like a shed load more hassle than just letting them get on with it and putting up with the wait”

Trust me…it isn’t!

For two reasons…

The first one is obvious: if you keep reminding people of your situation, how important it is and how much you mean business, they are far more likely to sort things out for you quickly, and the quicker the help you need is in place, the quicker you can get on with your life. However, it’s important to note that you always want people to stay on your side, so, as irritating as the bureaucracy and inefficiency can be, try and play nice, even when they aren’t nice to you!

Secondly, being in charge can be fun, and more importantly liberating!

I know it sounds like more work, but providing you have enough energy, appointing yourself chief in charge of your ‘care package campaign’ will make you feel far less stressed because at least you’ll know what’s going on!

Very often, the professionals involved will respond well to this because not only does it take the pressure of organisation off their shoulders, but it also looks good for them because the service user is involved and ‘personalisation’ is a big part of the government’s agenda at the moment.

Dedicated to helping you get the help you need,

George Baker
“Your personal social care guru”

P.S. part 4 and 5 coming soon!

P.P.S. really soon…getting fed up with this series…got lots of awesome stuff stored up that I want to share with you, so keep your finger over F5 (refresh) for the next few days!

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