Charity’s outstanding care following dementia diagnosis

Lizzie and John’s world crumbled when he was diagnosed with dementia. Crossroads Care Kent were there to support the couple in their darkest hour and following his death. Now Lizzie has nominated the charity for this year’s Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards to publicly thank them for their kindness and compassion.

Crossroads Care Kent have been nominated for the region’s wellbeing awards by a grateful widow who was supported during her time of need.

Lizzie, 74, was supported by the charity during the final years of her husband John’s life. She wanted to highlight the outstanding support that the couple received when their lives were completely changed by his dementia diagnosis.

Initially the charity’s crisis team visited to assess their situation and provided daily help.  Then once a week Crossroads Care Kent offered respite care which enabled Lizzie to attend her own medical appointments and complete necessary chores.

When her husband’s dementia had progressed to the point where he could no longer be supported at home and needed to go into residential care Lizzie said she was utterly traumatised.  Crossroads then stepped in with crucial counselling help over 12 weeks.  She went on to describe this service as “a brilliant scheme for all concerned: families are helped to navigate stress and the psychological trials of long-term care”.  Sadly Lizzie’s husband John passed away in August 2023.

According to the charity one person in nine in Kent is a carer and at some point in our lives three out five of us will become a carer.  These figures clearly highlight the need for an organisation like Crossroads Care Kent who have advocacy for carers to ensure that they are being listened to by local decision makers as one of their objectives.

Crossroads Care Kent offers a number of support services to both young and adult carers designed to give them both emotional and practical assistance.  These include:

• providing respite care in the home enabling carers to take a break;
• crisis services for carers;
• signposting people to information about what other help they might be able to access;
• organising social activities so that carers can share their experiences.

Additionally, they also provide specific support aimed at young carers through mentoring in schools and social activities.

In her nomination Lizzie mentioned that the services offered by Crossroads Care Kent are “free at the point of delivery so that all family carers have the same opportunity for support”.

Crossroads Care Kent are one of the network partners of the Carers Trust.

To nominate an individual, organisation or initiative for the Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards, or to find out more, visit www.kentmentalwellbeingawards.org.uk