Conversation - What this means for Sarah

The conversation was between Sarah and Jane at the cottage, Jane started by asking whether Sarah was comfortable to talk more about what matters to her and the future.

Sarah has the notes that she had made when she talked with her daughter-in-law Catherine. She talks to Jane about what matters to her – spending time with her grandchildren and living at the cottage, being as independent as possible, having her sheep and her dog.

She talked about what was working and what was difficult, how worried she was about her husband Eric, the indignity of using pads, and her struggles with the patches for her pain.

Jane explained that she was eligible for a budget to help her, and they talked about changes that Sarah wanted.

  • To have support at home (not to worry about paying bills, taking care of the house, being in pain etc.) and to die at home.
  • To know that her husband would be cared for, as she could no longer do this well herself, and that her sheep and dog would be looked after.
  • To be part of her grandchildren's life for as long as possible.

Jane asked her what she had tried already, Sarah talked about how important it was not to have strangers in the house, and how she really wanted her daughter-in-law to support her. They also thought about contingencies, such as if she unavoidably had to go into hospital or needed more support at home.

When it came to thinking about review, they looked at how, and how often to check in and see how things were going. They decided they needed another meeting to plan the detail of using her budget to achieve outcomes.