What can a Dementia Support Worker do to help me?
- The Good Company People
- Jun 14, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 28, 2025
What is this?
Carers Breaks Engagement Team (or CBET) are a team from East Sussex County Council who support people living with dementia and their carers. A dedicated support worker will visit you every 4 weeks if you live alone or every 3 months.
Your Support Worker will give you their contact details so if you have any questions or need support or advice between visits simply pick up the phone and they will get back to you.
How can a a Support Worker help me?
They can help you with:
Attendance Allowance
Obtaining a CRESS Card
Refer you to Care For The Carers
Help to obtain a Blue Badge
Refer to Association of Carers to access free respite (3 hours on a fortnightly basis)
Support you with Advanced Care Planning
Refer you to an Occupational Therapist (if you need equipment to continue to live at home)
Refer you for a Social Care assessment
Refer you for a Financial assessment
Refer you to the Specialist Older Adults Mental Health Service (SOAMHS)
Carry out an annual Carers Assessment (or sooner if your situation changes and need one earlier)
Refer to ESCC sensory team (hearing or sight loss)
Explore local options for social engagement.
Referral to Red Cross for short term befriending for up to six weeks.
What our members say about the service
“Our support worker is Krisztina and to say she has been a godsend is an understatement! On her regular visits she is full of information, help & advice. Her sense of humour helps my husband in particular who thinks he doesn’t need help & advice!! She recommended a dementia friendly clock which is an absolute godsend as my husband never knows the date or time. She advised us to apply for attendance allowance & a blue badge & even arranged for an advisor to visit to help us fill in the forms. Recently I was urgently admitted to hospital & Krisztina arranged for my husband to be admitted to a care home for respite care. She liaised with our daughter & neighbours to facilitate this & regularly checked to see how he, and I, were getting on. I cannot praise her enough and I am so grateful that we have her as our support worker. She goes way beyond the call of duty"
"Ann and I are lucky enough to have Vicky as ours, she is fabulous and totally no nonsense! There is nothing that I would not ask her, she is fun and supportive, creative with ideas that we may not have had ourselves and a kind, organised person. We had done a lot of research before meeting with her but she has been able to connect us with anyone/any service that we have asked. I cannot endorse her or the service enough. If she is out, we always get a call back after leaving a message with the team."
"When Mum got a diagnosis she didn't want to accept the D word. Her amazing support worker Tanya came in and didn't once mention the D word and Mum immediately warmed to her and was a constant support throughout our journey until Mum went into a home."
How do I get a Support Worker?
Once you get a dementia diagnosis you will be asked if you would like to be referred to CBET and assigned a Support Worker who will come and visit you at your home. You might at the time feel very overwhelmed processing the diagnosis but we strongly recommend you do.
If you have a dementia diagnosis and you don’t have a support worker, get in touch with ESCC Health and Social Care Connect on 0345 60 80 191 or email HSCC@eastsussex.gov.uk. They will connect you with the brilliant Carers Breaks Engagement Team (CBET), who can arrange for your own support worker to visit you in the comfort of your home.
How much does it cost?
It's a free service.
Download their leaflet here 👇
