And any eligible people wishing to sign up to the new Dumfries Wellbeing pilot project are being encouraged to come forward and take advantage of the new approach.
Lesley Bryce from the charity Community Circles said: “The initiative is between the local council and two local care providers — Rainbow Service and Care Solutions.
“They came together with Community Circles to develop these innovative Wellbeing Teams.”
Driven forward by Dumfries and Galloway Council, the initiative is promoted as ‘no ordinary care service’.
Specially recruited Wellbeing Workers trained in person-centred care will work in neighbourhood teams no larger than 12. They are chosen by the clients, and deliver a bespoke rota service.
Lesley said: “Health and social care is integrating, and we’re looking at changing demographics over the next ten or 20 years where we’ve got a high population of older people.
“It’s really trying to think of innovative ways of making care at home as good as it can be, and a lot of people who have just come out of hospital lose confidence and can become quite isolated and lonely, or then end up having more hospital admissions.
“It’s trying to help that circle of maybe preventing people from going back to hospital, and helping them stay at home.”
No client will ever have more than five people in their personalised Wellbeing Team, allowing them to build familiarity.
And in addition to looking after safety and wellness, the project aims to look at what is else is needed to make the client happy — helping with everything from DIY to getting out and about, medication and personal care.
Lesley said: “The Wellbeing teams and Circles are the first of their kind in Scotland, which is exciting for our region.”
Anyone in the DG1 postcode with an interest should phone 01556 502033, or 01387 270927 in DG2, or visit www.community-circles.co.uk
