About to have my annual reassessment. I need more hours, because my life has changed dramatically over the last year, I really need some guidance on how to talk to my SW
My annual reassessment is coming up and I know that I need more hours, but I'm honestly not asking Reddit how to convince my social worker to give them to me. What I'm asking is how do I explain how different my life is now compared to a year ago because I feel like that's the part I'm struggling with.
When I had my last assessment I was still waiting for my rollator to be delivered. Now I use it every day. Since then I've also been approved for Paratransit, SSDI, and a handicap placard. Those things didn't happen because I got better at filling out paperwork, they happened because my disabilities have changed and my mobility has changed.
I've also had multiple falls over the last year. I've had times where I couldn't get myself back up and I've had times where my phone wasn't within reach and I remember laying there thinking "what the hell do I do now?" because I couldn't get up and I couldn't call anybody.
That fear has honestly changed the way I live my life.
For all intents and purposes I live alone now. My master tenant technically still lives here but he spends almost all of his time with his partner and is here maybe one night a month, so there really isn't another person around if something happens to me.
Because of that I've changed a lot of my daily habits. I think about whether it's safe to shower. I think about whether I should carry laundry. I think about whether it's worth cooking something if I'm already hurting because I don't want to risk ending up on the floor. I find myself avoiding doing things not because I don't want to do them but because I'm scared of getting hurt while I'm alone.
My current IHSS provider has a key to my apartment and that was intentional. If I had a non-life-threatening emergency and I couldn't get myself up or safely get back to bed or the couch she's the person I would call because she's the only person that I know who would actually come. I'm incredibly lucky to have her but it also made me realize how much more I've come to rely on having help available.
I also have multiple surgeries coming up over the next several months so I know my needs are going to increase while I'm recovering, but honestly even if those surgeries weren't happening I still feel like I need more help today than I did a year ago because my life has changed that much.
I also want to be clear that I am open to and considering getting a pendant emergency alert device like Life alert, because if I can't reach my phone but I have a pendant wrapped around my neck at least I can press a button and get help. My biggest concern about that though is that I would not want them to immediately want to call 911, I would want them to call a list of people who I believe would help me in such a situation where it's not life-threatening and I don't need to go to a hospital but I need help in the moment.
I guess what I'm asking is how do I explain all of this to my social worker in a way that paints an accurate picture of what my life actually looks like now. I don't want to sound dramatic and I'm not trying to exaggerate anything or game the system. I just don't want my assessment to be based on who I was a year ago when my reality today is very different.
Also during my initial assessment that happened last year my social worker came and sat on my couch in my bedroom did not look at my space did not look at my kitchen my bathroom at home at all. And that bothers me. Because how can you understand somebody's safety at home who has limited mobility when you don't actually look at the spaces they have to navigate day-to-day.
Has anybody been through something similar?
If you're a recipient or a provider or especially a social worker, what kinds of things are important to bring up during an annual reassessment? Is it better to focus on diagnoses or should I really be talking more about how my day-to-day life and my ability to function safely have changed?