All Age Carers Strategy - Professionals

Overview

An engagement exercise took place with a wide range of stakeholders across Wolverhampton pre Covid-19, all of whom work with or come in contact with carers. This was to support the development of the All-Age Carers Strategy for the City. Following these discussions, a set of themes and priorities were developed. A full summary of the feedback from these discussions are available at the bottom of the page.

The following are the key themes and priorities that were identified:

 Employment and financial wellbeing

• Implement carer policies in workplaces to include flexibility in hours, exception in sickness policy, support in maternity returns, carers passport and employees understanding their rights
• Promote best practice for carer support in the workplace
• Support carers into employment
• Financial strain (on the carer and the person being cared for) 

Services and systems that work for carers

• Improve communication of the local offer to professionals and public
• Consider a new approach to 18-25 year old’s who transit from young carers to adults (Spurgeons to Carer Support Team)
• Adapt services appropriately for carers from various cultures and faiths
• Support for bereaved relatives
• Reducing the potential for breakdown of care
• Accessing respite
• Future capacity (as needs/the length of time caring increases) 

  Support young carers

• Identify more young carers through, for example, Health Related Behavioural Survey in schools and the Healthy Child Programme
• Link to school improvement/education (links into attendance)
• School champions for young carers
• Raise awareness of what a young carer is to help break down barriers and promote support services available
• Primary care services to identify young carers when young people accompany adults they care for
• Be active on social media

Recognising and supporting carers in the wider community

• Work with carer support groups to better understand carer needs
• Reach communities that are not representative in services
• Ensure services are needs promoted
• Widen single point of access to carer support
• Ensure professionals understand the services available and pathways
• Ensure key services are connected to this work i.e DWP
• Make it easier to identify as a carer through positive promotion
• Reduce social isolation
• Encourage carers to register as a carer, or think of themselves as a carer

Building research and evidence to improve outcomes for carers

• Connect carers to digital aspects of health to ease access

Why your views matter

We are keen to understand if these themes and priorities are still relevant and identify where they may have changed. We also need to understand whether services have changed what they offer to carers in response to Covid-19. This may mean that services have adapted and developed new best practices which continue to benefit carers post Covid-19. We need to understand the current landscape in the City to shape the future strategy.

For further details on how the information you provide will be used, please read our privacy notice.

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