We were delighted to welcome Joe Duffy and Brendan McKeever to talk about their 'Looking out from the Middle' report and its findings. A recurring theme was the need for organisations to give feedback to individuals and groups with whom they have consulted as a real way of avoiding both tokenism and consultation fatigue.
Carer Brian O'Hagan presented an amusing but insightful account of his experiences of carer involvement over the past number of years, leaving the delegates with much food for thought.
The honesty and openness of the delegates was very refreshing and led to some interesting discussion. We look forward to developing a full programme through which Carers Northern Ireland can support professionals and carers to engage in effective carer involvement.
What the delegates had to say:
"This has empowered me as a worker to advocate more strongly with regard to listening to what carers view as important to meet their needs to continue to reinforce this to management in the trust."
"Greater awareness of issues from a carer's perspective when working with clients carers and the community. Promoting carers to have a voice and to be heard."
"Increases awareness of value of views and opinion of carers and their vital role in shaping services."
"We are developing a PPI strategy within our organisation and feel this has been extremely relevant and informative for that process."
