“After a series of interventions from accessing dental services to support with other health issues, this service user engaged fully with the service including receiving support for improvements in the home. This has positively impacted on her quality of life.”

This service user was a 71 years old housebound lady living alone. The original reason for her being referred to the Enhance Service was her low mood, and a perceived need for befriending and access to social activities. She had a number of health conditions that affected her mobility and physical health in general, she could not leave her house on her own and needed a taxi to go any distance.

Initially the Enhance Worker spent time getting to know the service user through regular planned home visits, talking through how she was feeling and what support she needed. She shared that she did not feel confident to go out until she was able to have dental implants, she had missing teeth and her gums were becoming increasingly sore – but she did not have a dentist. The Enhance Worker provided lists of dentists that were taking NHS patients and together they called around dentists until this service user was added to the waiting list of a local dentist. The Enhance Worker also arranged for a GP home visit and spoke to the GP to explain more about the service user’s condition.  The doctor was able to prescribe anti-biotics and advice about the dental issues and talk to her about her other health issues.

Fortunately the dental treatment took place, and dentures were made, making our service user very happy. She then felt able to explore befriending and also look into issues in her home. The Enhance Worker undertook a joint visit with a Housing Officer to identify repairs and other issues, and referred our service user onto Leeds Community Trust and Chapel Allerton Charities to access funding.

The service user also asked for help with cleaning and clutter, which she found challenging. The Enhance Worker connected her to service providers and she was placed on a waiting list for more support.

During this whole process our Enhance worker linked our service user with a range of support organisations including Leeds Black Elders, Chapeltown Neighbourhood Network, Engage, Leeds Dental Service, Chapel Allerton Charities, Leeds Community Trust – all as part of the support to resolve her issues. Some of this support is ongoing and some was just to fix an issue as a one off. The issues affecting the service users sense of isolation have been tackled and she is self managing issues that previously were overwhelming for her, and negatively impacting on her quality of life.