Category #assessment   Show all

• Online Financial Assessments - Making life easier!

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  Working in adult social care, it's sometimes easy to forget what a complicated area it can be.

  For people who have never needed additional support, it can come as a surprise that you often need to contribute for some of the services you need. Our new Online Financial Assessment tool is designed to help people better understand this process.

  The digital calculator helps to give residents an indication about how much they might need to contribute toward the cost of their care.

  The web-based tool asks people to complete five sections with financial information after which the calculator will give them an estimated figure of what they might need to pay.

  Further support and guidance can be found here, to give people all the information they need to help them complete their financial assessment. We also have champions across adult social care from each service team/locality who have received a demonstration of the tool and can offer further support.

  Our online assessment tool will be the quickest, easiest and most secure way for people to start the financial assessment process and is part of our digital first approach. People will still be able to use a paper version if they would prefer.

  The digital improvements are all part of our drive to improve our service, making it easier for residents by creating a smoother, clearer pathway for them to access our services.

• Oxfordshire Oral Health Needs Assessment 2023: Key Messages for Care Homes

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  Findings from the Oxfordshire Oral Health Needs Assessment 2023 have now been published.

  These findings have highlighted the importance of promoting and prioritising good oral health across the whole system, which includes care homes. Oral health and related factors such as number of teeth, bite force, and chewing problems have a significant impact on older adults’ quality of life and ability to function. Oral health has impacts on many other elements of health, including nutrition, and is therefore an important element within individual care plans.

  Results from Oxfordshire surveys with stakeholders have highlighted general county-wide issues with access to NHS dentistry across all age groups. Impacts resulting from COVID-19 and NHS dental workforce limitations are being felt across services.

  The report highlights issues with access to dentistry within care homes, and outlines that more support is needed to promote partnership working between care homes and dental services. Additionally, commissioners are recommended to fund for local initiatives which promote oral health in care homes, such as peer-to-peer support.

  Recommendations from the report include:

  • Prioritising oral health in care homes
  • Wider collaboration across organisations and systems
  • Raising awareness of NICE and CQC guidance which can help to support oral health in care homes
  • Providing more training programmes and resources for care home staff
  • More resources to empower residents to maintain good oral health
  • Piloting oral health champions in care homes

  Community Dental Services (CDS) have a wide range of oral health-related training available to care homes and staff:

  • CDS have collaborated with Oxfordshire County Council and offer a level 1 toolkit for carers within care homes.
  • CDS then can offer further level 2 training for care homes and staff which focuses on maintaining and promoting oral health through incorporating national guidelines.
  • Care homes can also complete Lifelong Smiles, which is a level 3 accreditation programme.

  Overall, it is important to prioritise oral health across all services to make a difference to the oral health of people in Oxfordshire. A summary of the Needs Assessment can be found here.