Eligibility for adult care and support

There are national criteria (rules) that tell Adult Social Care who is entitled to have their care and support needs met.

Under the Care Act, if you can answer yes to all three questions below, you are eligible (entitled) to have some of your care and support needs met. A social care worker will assess your situation with you.

1) Is your need for support because of any kind of illness or disability including frailty?

2) Does your illness or disability mean that you cannot do two or more of the following?

The social worker will look at whether your needs make it very difficult or impossible to do two or more of the following:

• Managing and maintaining nutrition
  • Can you get food and drink in your home? Can you prepare your meals and drinks? Can you eat and drink them?
• Maintaining personal hygiene:
  • Can you wash and keep yourself clean? Can you get your clothes washed?
• Managing toilet needs:
  • Do you know when you need the toilet? Can you get to the toilet and use it yourself? Do you need help going to the toilet? 
• Being appropriately clothed:
  • Can you get dressed and undressed? Can you decide what clothes to wear, depending on the weather?
• Being able to make use of the adult's home safely:
  • Can you move around your home safely? Can you use the kitchen or bathroom? Can you use the stairs if you need to? Can you get in and out of your home safely?
• Maintaining a habitable home environment:
  • Can you keep your home clean and safe? Can you manage your bills so that you don't get gas, water and electricity cut off? Can you stay warm enough to be safe?
• Developing and maintaining family or other personal relationships;
  • Do you have friends and family around you? Can you meet people or make new friends if you want?
• Accessing and engaging in work, training, education or volunteering: 
  • Can you get involved in work, education, training or volunteering?
• Making use of necessary facilities or services in the local community including public transport and recreational facilities or services@
  • Can you get around safely and use local facilities such as public transport, shops or join groups. If you have a meeting or doctor's appointment, do you need help with it?
• Carrying out any caring responsibilities the adult has for a child:
  • Are you a parent or step-parent and can you look after your children?

3) Is your wellbeing significantly affected because of the things that you cannot do?

This means you cannot achieve the outcomes above and this has a big impact on your daily life and overall wellbeing.

The social worker, community assessment officer or other worker helps you look at this and considers with you the impact on your wellbeing.

Visit Salford Adult Social Care’s Information Hub for more detailed information

This page was last updated on 13 September 2025