KeyRing and the Care Act

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KeyRing and the Care Act

KeyRing has a lot of experience with supporting people with the kind of issues that make them Care Act eligible. We have broken down the criteria to explore how we can help with each one.

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Eating well (sometimes called ‘managing nutrition’)

This includes support with any health issues that might affect eating, buying or preparing food, help to budget for food and information and advice on a healthy diet.

"KeyRing helped me find a free local cooking course."

Looking after your home (sometimes called ‘maintaining a habitable home environment’)

We can help with making sure your home is a safe and pleasant place to live. This could involve things like reporting repairs, getting on top of cleaning and tidying, or dealing with hoarding. We can also help you with decorating and getting your home just how you want it.

"KeyRing helps me manage my ISF. I've used some of it to pay for the ABILIA MEMOplanner. It helps me plan my day and reminds me when I need to do things like cleaning."

Good relationships

This could include finding ways to stay in touch with family and friends, opportunities to make new friends, or advice on healthy relationships.

"KeyRing has given me a phone, which means I can stay in touch with my family more easily."

Doing new things (or ‘accessing and engaging in’ them)

We have supported lots of people with finding a job or volunteer position, getting into education, or doing some training.

"My support worker helped me find a tutor for maths and English, to help me improve my skills."

Using what is available locally (sometimes called ‘making use of necessary facilities or services in the local community')

This could be getting more confident on public transport, getting to know where the good things are locally like the best café or a friendly gym, or support going to an appointment.

"I used to need support to go anywhere. Now I can go in a taxi by myself, and I'm when I'm well enough I'm going to work on starting to use public transport."

Support with caring responsibilities

If you care for someone else, we can help you get the support you need to do that well.

"KeyRing helped me make a checklist so that I can make sure I've done everything I need to do when I have my daughter with me, like making sure she brushes her teeth and gets to school on time."

Hygiene and looking after yourself

We can support you to do things like buy the hygiene products you need. This could be shampoo and soap, laundry detergent or incontinence or menstrual pads. We can also help you build good habits for keeping yourself, your clothes and your home clean.

Going to the toilet (or ‘managing toilet needs’)

We can support you with medical appointments or medication if you’re having problems when you go to the loo, provide information on how to eat well and feel good, or help with practical things like bathroom repairs and keeping your place nice and clean.

Dressing (or ‘being appropriately clothed’)

We can help you make sure you always have the right things to wear. This could mean helping you buy a washing machine or getting one repaired, finding your local launderette or starting a good laundry routine so you always have clean clothes.

We’re not CQC registered so we can’t provide personal care, but if you need help with things like washing, getting dressed or going to the loo we can help you find the right people to help.

Other outcomes

The Care Act is also about preventing, delaying and reducing the need for care and support. Some of the outcomes that people achieve are:

Developing skills (or 'building independence')

In 2024/25 37% of people we support have moved on from our services. Many more reduced their support, either because they no longer needed assistance from other social care providers or by lowering their level of KeyRing support.

This figure does not include our short-term services which are designed for people who do not meet Care Act eligibility requirements.

Making the most of your money (or 'maximising income')

We can help with making sure you are getting any benefits you are entitled to. We can also support you with budgeting, managing debts and looking for paid work.

Improved wellbeing

We can support you to make and go along to GP or hospital appointments. We can also help you find services that can support you with a health goal, like giving up smoking. Your support worker will get to know you well, so they will be able to help you recognise if you're not feeling right and get things checked out early.