"Developments in caring for my mother"

Having contacted the Older People Dunfermline Team for support in a difficult situation related to continuing my mother’s care at home I was able to get help from a social assistant who had been of great assistance before. Her previous knowledge of my situation made it easier and also her ability to go beyond ‘superficial’ facts, interpreting and expressing what you have not quite managed to put into words.

Once again she showed a great capacity for empathy. Sympathy is certainly good but empathy carries more weight. She did not flinch from making us aware of certain painful issues and their implications regarding my mother’s care and consequently the serious need to have a Plan B, as she termed it, but always in such a way that you understood our best interests were at heart.

Access to someone like this social work assistant can make an enormous difference to difficult situations, when you don’t know quite where to turn and even relatively banal issues can begin to appear insurmountable.

Obviously she did not possess a magic wand but to know that you can get a different perspective on problems and concrete suggestions to try and resolve them can alleviate the sense of impotency that comes from feeling overwhelmed. Acting on advice can still be demanding but even awareness itself feels like a step forward.