About Adult Social Care

What could support look like for me?

In Camden, we take a proportionate approach to supporting adults. Everyone’s needs differ significantly over time depending on individual circumstances. We will do everything we can to make a positive difference and help you stay healthy and independent for longer. 

You may have an immediate or short-term need that is urgent. We will help you to resolve this. We can help if you are in a crisis and we will take emergency action and set up targeted support to help you to regain control and feel safe.

If you are in hospital, we will have a conversation about your support needs before you are discharged.  There may be some skills you need help to regain and rebuild confidence in managing at home independently in the long term. To support you, we can provide short term care while you are recovering at home, known as 'reablement care'. This support is free of charge and provided by a team of social care professionals. Other care options may also be available, but may not necessarily be free.

You may need support to stay well and connected to things that will enable you to get on with your daily life.  We can provide information, advice, put you in contact with services. We can also help you to access available networks of support in the local community, or other resources.

You may have an ongoing health condition or complex multiple needs.  We can provide longer-term support to help you to maintain your independence and live well for longer.

Local authorities can provide some time limited care services for free, such as following a hospital discharge. There are other care services, such as longer-term support needs that are not free for everyone.  A financial assessment will be required to work out whether you need to pay for some of the cost.

We will do everything we can to make a positive difference and help you stay healthy and independent for longer.

Our 'what matters' approach to supporting you

In Camden, we want to support people to live healthy, active and independent lives for as long as possible, and to be able to do the things that matter to them. We want to give people more choice, and more control, over their care and support. We will involve people in the decisions that affect them – encouraging them to make the decisions themselves when possible.

To support our residents, we no longer use a traditional approach that focuses on what’s wrong with a person (‘what’s the matter?’), which provides formal services without considering alternatives.

Instead we will:

• focus on what is most important to a person (a ‘what matters’ approach)
• recognise and build on their strengths as individuals and within their networks
• help a person to stay connected to their community
• work with them to identify problems and intervene early. This will help to tackle the root causes of any problems, not just the symptoms.

By focusing on what people can do, rather than what they can’t do, we recognise that people are experts in their own lives, and that their strengths and connections are a vital part of keeping them healthy and independent.

We will continue to work with our residents to help them to stay well, connected, and safe, providing help at a time of crisis, and ongoing support where it is needed.

Through working with our health and community partners, we will focus on preventative, proactive and joined-up care and support.

Working in this way means you have more choice and control over support, and will be involved in the decisions that affect you. The 'what matters' approach ties in to our overall strategy for Adult Social Care in Camden: Supporting People, Connecting Communities.

Watch the video to find out more about how we work together with adults in Camden through our 'What Matters' approach.

You can also watch the British Sign Language version below.

Read our refreshed strategy for living and ageing well in Camden

Download an easy read version of Camden's plan for living and ageing well