COMMUNITY OUTREACH SERVICES
The Community Outreach Service at Dunbar Day Centre is wholly person-centred. It can be used to give respite to carers, provide social interaction and reduce isolation, or something more specific. The service provided can be adapted to the individual and their carers’ needs.
Our staff are local, friendly people who very much enjoy the company of those they visit. Generally, one or two staff members will do all the visits. Occasionally it may be three to cover holidays where there are more than two visits a week. We don’t wear uniforms and often the person we care for doesn’t realise that we are providing respite for their carer as they enjoy our company so much!
The service is available 9 am to 3 pm from Monday to Friday, dependent on availability. Visits will be the same days and times each week. Some people combine a day or two at the centre with an outreach visit. This helps to provide variety and a more one-to-one service during the outreach visit. Others may not want to come to the centre, or are not ready to make the commitment just yet.
The outreach service costs £11 an hour. An invoice will be sent out at the end of each month.
Examples of our Community Outreach Service
Below are some examples of community outreach that we currently provide:
- Visits to take someone out for a walk and coffee around the local area. Meeting people they know on the high street, going round the shops, enjoying the weather (!) or visiting local attractions. These can be 2 or 3 hours each week and we can do more than one visit.
- Visits to chat about how they are, their lives now and in the past and current affairs. These would generally be 1 hour and can be something to look forward to in the week. This can be in their home, pottering round the garden or out for a walk. This reduces loneliness and isolation.
- Visits to help with correspondence, such as medical appointments, and technology, such as assisting with apps on mobile phones and iPads, ensuring they can keep in contact with family. Generally 1 hour.
- Encourage someone who has lost some confidence to get out and about and start to enjoy life again. We can find out what they’d like to do together, see what’s going on in the local area and encourage them to join local groups and clubs.
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- Accompany someone to regular appointments, as long as they are on the same day and time each week.
- A lunch visit to heat up a meal and provide some conversation and social interaction.
What community outreach isn't
Community Outreach isn’t a traditional ‘Care at Home Service’ that provides personal care and administering medication. The person may already have carers coming in to help them with personal care. Community Outreach is there to enhance someone’s quality of life further. We do, however, realise that there may be certain cases where personal care is needed to promote independence and uphold someone’s dignity.
Find out more or make a referral
If you’d like to discuss our Community Outreach Service further, please feel free to phone Claire (Manager) or Helena (Outreach Development Manager) at Dunbar Day Centre on 01368 862843, or you can complete our contact form.
If you would like to refer someone, we can come and visit you at your home to chat more about it. Referrals can be made by family members, local GP’s, carers, social work, dementia groups and more. There’s a referral form to fill in so we can get a better idea of what you would hope the outreach service would provide, and we are very happy to give ideas and make the service as individual as possible to suit their needs. A copy of the referral form can be accessed from this link.