Will Adult Social think its concerning if I don't have a TV set?

[AlertMentor]

Would Adult Social Care be concerned if I had no TV? I am not on their radar yet but I am now in my 60s, do have some physical disability and very little family support so I have a reasonable expectation that if I ended up ill and in hospital that they might end up being involved in a care package or similar. I have a TV now but do not watch it much and everytime the licence is due for renewal I wonder about getting rid of the TV altogether. I only ever watch freeview listings. I do listen to the radio and have a smartphone so not exactly cut off from the world. I do not have a computer, I use one at the library if absolutely necessary. Am I at risk of being considered an oddball and attract unnecessary attention?

Eh? Why would they care?

I don't think so. You watch things on your phone and listen to the radio. Plenty of younger people don't have an actual traditional TV anymore.

Not wanting to watch a load of old tripe like Ant and Dec or Hollyoaks could hardly be described as a sign of cognitive failure. In fact watching them would probably exacerbate such ailments. 😂

As pp said why would they care and also why are you worried.

Not at all.

I wondered if it would be considered a sign of deprivation? ie 'poor old soul, she can't even afford a telly'. You are all helping me feel a lot better about it. I feel I am quite well socialised, I get out to church activities on a regular basis and I use my library to get books every fortnight.

No they don’t.

we didn’t have a telly when I grew up and nobody cared then.

they care even less these days - many young people watch stuff on their laptops.

As long as you can feed yourself, wash yourself and take yourself to the toilet etc, then they wouldn't suggest carers
they're not going to care about whether you watch TV, why would they?

Don't be daft lol.

Absolutely not, no.

This is very odd.

Even if you were deprived of entertainment so what? What do you think adult social care do?

My mother died with Dementia (she died in a care home in 2020 so covid saw her off before the Dementia finished its ugly course). I am terrified of being considered mentally incapable of caring for myself. I just wondered if not having a TV might be something that could weigh unfavourable against me.

I have a telly but haven't watched it for at least 12 years.

There is no question on a mental capacity assessment about whether you watch TV. They don't care

Nope they wouldn’t care.
fwiw I haven’t had a tv for over 25 years. Nor broad band or a telephone line!

I accompanied my latest mother to her basic assessment.So do I just have to know who the current PM is? The dates of the second world war? and be able to count down in 7s from 100? The Kim's game bit is a bit trickier because I've never been good at noticing what has been removed from the tray!

I'm disabled and periodically have to have council careers in order to conform to 'safe discharge' hospital rules. I also don't have a TV.

No one will care. Any assessment will be for the smallest amount of possible care from the cheapest care company on their books.

Assessment is usually done in hospital, and theoretically starts when you're returned home. (the reality can be a whole heap different)

From my experience I very much doubt they would even notice. They are more focused on making sure the home is safe ie providing handrails etc and whether anyone requires meals delivered or carer visits so that they can remain safely in their own home. For what it’s worth I have considered getting rid of the tv too as never watch it either. Worry not, Nothing odd about that.

That's specifically a memory assessment.

Just to say that if you are watching tv on Freeview you still need a licence. Any ‘at time of airing’ tv requires one

Why do you think you’d need to have this assessment?

I know. I currently have a licence. I only mentioned freeview to differentiate from having extra packages like Netflix or sky. I have never had any of those things.

I am terrified of being considered mentally incapable of caring for myself.

Sadly, and I don't mean to scare you, but the opposite is more likely to be true: that you do actually become mentally impaired, or otherwise too frail and unable to care for yourself, but help will not be forthcoming, or the help begrudgingly offered will be insufficient.

Do you have anyone who can advocate for you if the worst comes to the worst and you need help?

OP until you wander the streets in your night-dress and leave the gas cooker on, adult social care won’t even notice your existence.

I have one nephew and his wife. The wife is very switched on and I actually think that she would be more likely to advocate on my behalf as otherwise the burden of care would probably fall on her shoulders.