Who is it for? - About-Us - Upstream

Who is it for ?

A wide range of people benefit from support by community mentors. The need has been identified by health and social care professionals, by the voluntary sector and by individuals themselves. One definition identifies those who find themselves with a need lying somewhere between a requirement for definite medical assistance and a requirement for simple reassurance. A large number of people may be capable of self-sufficiency with community support but their practical, physical, social, mental or other personal needs often go unrecognised. They are frequently those with whom, if effort is put in earlier ‘upstream’, greater problems and cost will be saved ‘downstream’. Here are some descriptive suggestions that do not embrace all those who might benefit from the service. After much discussion with professionals and participants, the criteria listed give positive (rather than negative) reasons for inclusion. Families, friends and people themselves are more often than not the best people to make the earliest identification.

People in later life who might have one or more of the following characteristics but certainly not all of them:

• looking for new interests and to share their skills and ideas
  
• looking for activities that are creative and stimulating as well as social
• finding it difficult to get hold of information or to make use of information
• feeling out of touch, or feel a gap in their lives, and want shared experiences
• recently retired, bereaved or moved home
• experiencing some other changed circumstances or new surroundings
• just out of hospital
• living alone or caring for someone who is housebound
• feeling isolated through illness, disability, finance, family or transport
• thought by their GP, health visitor or other professional to be at risk of falls or some other circumstance threatening their independence
• finding that some other activities are in groups that are too large, or in venues that are difficult to access, or provide passive rather than active involvement

Who is the service not for (exclusions)?

Mentors are not health or social care professionals, and are not acting as counsellors or befrienders. The quality and effectiveness of the service would be prejudiced if it became focused on specific health and social care issues. Therefore the service is not appropriate for people who may:

• be violent
  
• be alcoholic
• have more than mild dementia
• have psychotic or personality disorders