carers living in the Gwynedd area and Shropshire area.

[helenmochnant]

Hi! I'm a 3rd year student at Bangor
university,studying a joint honours degree in Health and social care
and criminology and criminal justice. As part of my degree i must
write a dissertation on a topic of my choice and i've chosen to write upon the topic of provision of care for informal carers in both the Gwynedd area and the Shropshire area.
The study intends to compare and contrast the different types of resources and help on offer to these urban and rural areas.
Therefore i would be very greaful if anyone living in these areas can write back to me to give me your opinions and views on the help that your local council give to you.
Greatly appreciated Helen

[NanaNana]

I live in Shropshire, Helen, but can you tell me what an 'informal carer' is, please?

[Scally]

Right now there is a serious shortage of "arers" in these locations. We need to put the big "C" back into aring, in my opinion, as nobody is admitting to being an "arer" .. its a stigma kind of thing..

[paul stephens]

alot of people just dont think there are a carer..

[helenmochnant]

thank you all for your quick replies.
Firstly sorry Frandrake for causing confusion, an informal carer is just another word for a person who is a carer . They provide upaid care for either their partner, child, parents and neighbours etc. Excalibur, Yes I suppose there is a type of stigma attached to being a carer and I suppose that some people assume that carers use there status to claim benefits!!!where clearly thiis is NOT the case. And Paul yes you're right, a lot of people don't realise that they are carers,and don't realise that the care there providing is valuable. The the 2007 Carers UK Reported that this 'informal care' is worth and estimated £87 billion per year!!!
Would you be so kind as to answer some of my questions? It would be greatly appreciated
-Can any of you tell me what your local councils have done in order to help you as a carer?
-How did you go about getting help? or do you not recieve help?
-Do you think carers living in ruralised areas are disadvantaged and is it hareder for them to recive and make uses of services?
thank you again for being so co-oprative much appreciated

[NanaNana]

Ok, so what is a FORMAL carer then?
If I am an 'informal' one?

If you are a third year student studying Health and Social Care, then you should, by now, know the difference between paid, employed workers and US.
We DO know what a CARER IS, Helen, we're IT.

Please tell us what a FORMAL carer is.....
Maybe the 'terms' which you have been taught are wrong, not really having a go at you, but your terminology is just wrong and I'm getting annoyed at that. I'm not an 'informal' anything, like I'm not legit or not to be taken seriously.

And you totally didn't GET what Excalibur was on about .......................

[helenmochnant]

there are 4 main welfare providers which are;
1.The state (public sector),-
2.The market (private sector)
3.The voluntary and community sector
4.The informal sector
so i suppose you could call the the state and the market 'formal carers'.
Sorry if i misinterpreted what Excalibur said and sorry if i have caused offence. I'm not trying to say you are not to be taken seriously, as the care you provide is of great value and is underestimated.

[paul stephens]

i am happy to help if i can but not in the areas you are looking at as i am in monmouthshire

[helenmochnant]

No, all opinions and experiences are greatly appreciated. That would be great, thanks Paul!
*Can i ask first of all if you live in a ruralised or a relatively urban area?
*What has your local council done to help you as a carer?
How did you go about getting help? or do you not recieve help from local council?
*Are their services easily accessible?
* What types of services offered by them do you use(e.g respite care)?
many thanks!!!!

[Dee]

Hi Helen

I live in Telford and Wrekin which is within the county of Shropshire but is a unitary authority in its own right, so social services is part of T&W local authority, not Shropshire. Anyway, I was a full-time carer for my elderly father for 18 months from January 2007 to June 2008, when he passed away. I must say I thought the services for carers around here seemed to me pretty good. I had two Carer's assessments, one when I first moved back from London to start caring for Dad and the second about twelve months later, when his condition, specifically his mobility, had deteriorated and his need for round the clock caring increased. There is a very active Carers' Contact Centre in Telford which carries out a lot of work on behalf of the council and from which I received a great deal of help and advice. I also received a £50 grant towards respite from them in 2007. The services my Dad received from Social Services, both before and after I took up my full-time caring role, were also pretty good, but he had some savings, hehad to make a contibution for most of the services. While I was livng away he had low-level preventitive service (2 hours per week home help) which was a godsend, both for the cleaning services and for the company. He also had meals-on-wheels and continued with these even after I moved in, as he enjoyed the small degree of independence of choosing from his own menu for one meal each day and microwaving it.

Anyway, that was the situation up to just over two years ago - unfortunately, T&W are just as likely to be affected by the current round of cuts as any other local authority. Hope this has been of some help!