INFORMATION ? VITAL , But What If You Don't Have Internet Access ? Go Without ?

[Chris From The Gulag]

Office For National Statistics ... Latest Report :

In 2018, 90% of adults in the UK were recent internet users, up from 89% in 2017.

8.4% of adults had never used the internet in 2018, down from 9.2% in 2017.

Virtually all adults aged 16 to 34 years were recent internet users (99%) in 2018, compared with 44% of adults aged 75 years and over.

20% of disabled adults had never used the internet in 2018, down from 22% in 2017.

Northern Ireland is catching up with the other UK regions in recent internet use, reaching 86% in 2018; however, it remained the region with the lowest recent use.

Perhaps 20 years ... even 30 ... TOO late but ... better than never at all.

7.8 million family / kinship carers out there.

Rhetorical question ... how many KNOW what's available in the way of support ?

Rhetorical again ... how many have easy access to the Internet ... perhaps only half ?

How do we get that information to those who do need it but don't access it for whatever reason ?

Answer ... at least for some new carers , a guide ... in good old fashioned paper format.

Sent by the DWP with all introductory paperwork when CA is approved for the first time.

As for the rest , said guide available in all gp surgeries / NHS establishments / food banks for starters.

Said guide would be fairly brief ... 8 / 12 / 16 pages ... and seek to cover ALL aspects of caring on a daily basis.

A brief description followed by a host of Internet links ... to encourage readers to explore further.

Could do the same through this forum but ... the numbers ... a couple of hundred readers and a low thousand visitors ... hardly makes a dent in the 7.8 million ?

How many straight answers do we give to newbies by posting a link that contains all the information sought ?

All carers need support ... information just as vital ... if only we had supporting organisations that talked to one another ... and combined to produce a guide of this nature for the benefit of family / kinship carers nationwide ?

Just imagine how much suffering that one guide could ease , if not eliminate ?

Costs ?

Turn that around ... what is the cost for NOT producing such a guide ????

From unclaimed benefits ... right across the spectrum ... to support through needs and carer assessments / CHC / care homes fees ... recurring postings almost weekly ... over the past 15 years or so ... just on this sparsely used forum alone !!!

Ponder on that answer ... tens of millions perhaps ???

Another important spin off ... IDENTIFYING CARERS ... 40 years and still no one knows more than 1 in 10 !!!

Time for that guide me thinks ... only 20 / 30 years too late .. but better than millions stumbling around in the dark when a brief read of just one section turns on the light for them ???

BOTH OUR SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS HAVE A " DUTY " TO SUPPORT FAMILY / KINSHIP CARERS ... LET'S SEE THEM DO SO IN A MOST POSITIVE WAY... FOR RECORD NUMBERS IN DIRE NEED OF INFORMATION JUST TO SURVIVE IN 2018.

[Chris From The Gulag]

From " That other outfit's " site :

Reach more carers

There are currently seven million unpaid carers in the UK but only a very small number are receiving the support they need.

Many carers don't identify themselves as a carer, are unaware of their right to support, or haven't been picked-up by the health and social care services that should be offering them help.

It is troubling to think that although there are services in place to help carers, many carers who need support won't be accessing them simply because they are unaware of their basic rights. However, lots of carers will already be in touch with the people that could help them get that support – such as GPs and pharmacies.

Extract from Carers UK ... available on the main site :

Every day 6,000 people become carers. Many don’t know how or where to get help. It can be frightening and very lonely.

For some it’s sudden: someone you love is taken ill or has an accident, your child is born with a disability. For others, caring creeps up unnoticed: your parents can’t manage on their own any longer, your partner’s health gets gradually worse.

Looking after someone can be tough, but you’re not on your own. Carers UK is here to listen, to give you expert information and advice that’s tailored to your situation, to champion your rights and support you in finding new ways to manage at home, at work, or wherever you are.

Would not a pamplet as so described earlier ease this problem ???

So simple and so ... obvious ?

INFORMATION IS SUPPORT AT THE MOST BASIC LEVEL !

.... AND IT'S BEING MISSING FOR CLOSE ON 40 YEARS.

To eat / heat / or keep a roof over one's head ?

Information has the power to even ease that conundrum ... for far too many !!!

[Michael Carers UK]

Thanks for starting this thread Chris.

I just wanted to let you know that we've been printing our 'Looking after someone' guide for carers for several years and recently distributed over 12,000 copies to around 2,500 GP surgeries across the country. 'Looking after someone' is an introductory guide for carers and lets people know about their rights and entitlements and where they can go for support.

We update the guide each year ahead of Carers Rights Day and Carers UK volunteers play a key role in distributing them in their communities. If you or any other members would like us to send you some copies to hand out in your area, please let us know.

Michael

[Chris From The Gulag]

Thanks Michael.

A start ... after xx years ... and limited ... 12,000 / 7,800,000.

DWP route would achieve that in ... weeks ... 5 / 6 ? ... and each copy WOULD reach a carer.

None sent to Trussells ?

100,000+ of our fellow carers visited food banks in the last calender year ... would any of them find anything in said guide of immediate use ?

Any sent to the various local carer centres run by ... ssssh , you know who ?

Worksop ?

30,000 ... assume 1 in 10 ... 3,000 copies ... only one problem ?

( As confirmed shortly after Carers' Week last year , not one leaflet to be seen in either Bassetlaw hospital , nor gp surgeries ... I made it my business to check. )

Identifying carers ... coming back yet again to haunt both supporting organisations to make that a joint priority since ... well , let just say the past 25 years , being conservative.

Worksop ... I just wonder how much information in said guide would be relevant on this manor ... prime considerations being that daily choice of to eat / heat / keep a roof over one's head ... support would be secondary as most on offer around here is unaffordable and / or simply unavailable ... what exists on paper doesn't mean it's available !!!

Still , better than nothing.

I trust that full consideration will be given to the type of information just needed to survive in CarerLand ?

Across the spectrum ... CHC / Care Act ( Brief guides ... what IS actual working , not chapter and verse ! ) ... Housing ( Care home fees impact and the Lambchop element for social tenants ) ... Benefits ( Including the still invisible on the main site ... food bank element ) and 30 / 40 stops between these stations.

In essence , a " Carers' Bible " , not just the odd chapter or two ???

I would even have a crack at that myself ... " A Guide For Family / Kinship Carers At Street Level " ... tempting ... but no ... I'm not getting paid to support family / kinship carers but ... if the worst comes to the worst ...

Costs revisited ?

I doubt whether Camelot could refuse a joint application for funding of this nature ... given the target market ... ?

7.8 million out there ... they ALL need support and ... INFORMATION !!!

Perhaps touching 9 million come 2023 ... LA cutbacks alone will help achieve that.

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Bottom line ?

Tens of millions could be forthcoming to family / kinship carers IF ONLY they had INFORMATION in the first place.

Even better off carers would benefit ... just two examples from regular postings on the forum ... care home fee top-ups and the existence of CHC / NHS Continuing Healthcare.

Whilst the majority of carers remain oblivious to what is available out there , many connected to CarerLand are taking them for a ride ... including our own NHS !

CarerLand as seen from Great Dover Street ... CarerLand at street level ... two totally different worlds.

STOP PRESS : more ammunition posted this morning from an article in the Guardian.

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/news-and ... 8?start=30

[Chris From The Gulag]

Scotland but ... MOST relevant to this thread :

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/u ... ort-finds/

Carers struggling to find help, report finds.

More needs to be done to help the UK’s seven million carers and improve the current system that waits for them to ask for help, which is usually when they are already “on the brink of a crisis”, a report has warned.

Healthwatch said its findings paint a “stark picture” of what it is like trying to find and access, with its analysis of waiting time data in England showing that on average people wait two months between contacting their local authority and actually being able to access services.

It said that while this is not an excessive amount of time in its own right, for those seeking an assessment when already approaching a point of crisis these waits can cause incredible stress.

While councils have a duty to support local carers, the research also found gaps in the data collected by many local authorities, with 51 of the 152 councils asked unable to provide a recent idea of how many carers lived in their area and 72 unable to say how long carers on lists had been waiting.

Healthwatch said more consistent and better data is urgently needed if local authorities are going to reach out to carers earlier and make a successful case for the necessary resources to meet local demand.

According to the charity Carers UK, unpaid carers currently contribute £132 billion pounds worth of care support to family and friends.

This is more than seven times the £17 billion councils spend annually.

It is estimated it would take four million extra full-time paid social care staff to cover the work of unpaid family carers.

Healthwatch said its report was compiled using the views and experiences of 5,447 carers from 27 communities across England.

It said many of those who shared their stories found support services difficult to find, and they often only found out about the help on offer by chance or at a point when they had already started struggling.

Often the result is that the person being cared for suffers, sometimes ending up in hospital or a residential care home. This can limit their independence, affect their quality of life and ultimately cost the NHS and social care sector more money.

Carers themselves are also affected, having to give up work or becoming ill themselves. The emotional toll of being a carer – in particular the feelings of guilt around not being able to cope – can also leave lasting scars.

Healthwatch England national director Imelda Redmond said: “This new research highlights the hard work being done and sacrifices being made by carers the length and breadth of the country. Quite simply, their efforts help keep the NHS and social care afloat.

“But the demands on carers are only going to grow over the coming years, as their numbers swell and our society ages.

“At the moment we have a system that waits for people to ask for help, which usually comes when they are on the brink of a crisis. To support carers effectively services need to be much more on the front foot.”

She added that the Government’s green paper on social care, which is expected later in the autumn, provides a “brilliant opportunity” to recognise the contribution carers make and make plans to ensure they get the support they need.

Glen Garrod, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, said: “We would encourage carers to identify themselves to councils who can provide advice and information and help assess their circumstances to see how best they can be supported.

“There are great examples of council care teams that work hand-in-hand with carers as people often prefer to receive care from those they know, and councils assess the needs of carers to ensure they are supported to continue.

“It is deeply regrettable that adult social care directors find themselves facing difficult choices, against a backdrop of insufficient funds to support carers in their area to the extent they would like to be able.

“This is one of many reasons that the Government should bring forward its green paper, complete with a long-term funding solution for social care, as soon as possible.”

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Unpaid carers are the backbone of the care system, many of whom are unable to take a break, putting their own health on the line. Without these unsung heroes the system would collapse.

“With people living longer, increases in costs and decreases in funding, adult social care is at breaking point.

“Over recent years, councils have protected adult social care relative to other services. But the scale of the overall funding picture for local government means adult social care services still face a £3.5 billion funding gap by 2025, just to maintain existing standards.

“The likely consequences of this are more and more people being unable to get quality and reliable care and support, which enables them to live the lives they want to lead.”

INFORMATION ... without that , how do many of the 7.8 million family / kinship carers find out what they need ?

Join the queue for access to the Internet in their local library ... assuming not closed with the latest round of their LA's cuts ... and try to find out within a time slot ... some now a mere 10 minutes as demand exceeds supply ?

Turn the clock back 20 odd years to my first days as a lone carer ... Internet in it's infancy.

2 miles walk pushing caree in her wheelchair ... visiting several stops ... some limited hours of opening ( Missed one by 5 minutes ) ... others needing a pre arranged appointment ... picking up leaflets ... still none the wiser after digesting those.

2018 ... have things really got better ?

Low millions with NO Internet access ?

The Street can tell you ... " NO ! "

[Rosemary_1706]

Over the last 18 months I've been in and out of hospitals and doctors' surgeries in London and SE Greater London and I have looked for information for carers. I do not remember seeing any resource information from Carers UK.

I found the organization on the internet. Just searched the online shop and I wonder how many NHS trusts are going to pay 45gbp for 100 pamphlets?

[Chris From The Gulag]

The very crux of this thread !

Checked yesterday with my local foodbank , nothing ... four volunteers ... 100,000 of our fellow carers had to seek help from foodbanks in the last calendar year ... any leaflets sent to Trussells to distribute ?

Certainly would have been a priority in my Book !!!

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" Looking after somebody " ... 28 pages ... 100 for £ 45.



That will explain a lot of things.

A Foodbank ... " There you go squire , three days worth and a fiver on the meter. Hows' bout today's special offer ? A leaflet which MAY be of use to you as a carer. Yours for today's once only price of ... 50p ... and another 5p on that meter ? "

" Sorry for the charge but we are charged for this pamphlet ourselves. Carers UK don't accept cans of soup / beans as payment. "

" You never know. It might put food on the table , more money in the meter , or even help keep a roof over your head. How many weeks behind with the rent did you say ? "

" Must be something in there. After all , if there isn't , why charge you for it ? "

" Might even be a few money off vouchers in there ... 5p off your next meter fill up perhaps ? "

CARERS UK " GAVE OUT " 12,000 OF THESE THIS YEAR ... PERHAPS " SOLD " MORE APT ???

I rest my case ... yet another " Issue " to add ... to our Lord Kitch ?

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Put me done for a couple of hundred as well ... a couple of notes off me pension per week ?

I'll buy in some small stickers ... to put over the price ... and then hand them over to me local foodbank.

Never know , some receiving them might even benefit in some way ?

Burn well do they ?

Or , on second thoughts , that couple of notes per week ... a few cans for local carers using the foodbank ... that's actual help at Street level.

[Rosemary_1706]

If Michael would like to send me a supply of pamphlets and posters, please contact me. Of course it would be best to have the phone advice line back up and running!

[Chris From The Gulag]

" Looking after someone " ... guide advertised elsewhere on this site :

https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advic ... er-someone

One MAJOR omission ... absulutely NOTHING on food banks.

100,000 or thereabouts family / kinship carers had to use a food bank during the year ending December 2017.

Jury is out but 110,000+ for this calender year ?

Perhaps CUK would explain the omission ????

At least , there is the FOOD BANK thread on the forum ... little comfort for anyone reading it ?

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/news-and ... 2017-27450

WE TEND TO LOOK AFTER OUR OWN ... how about CUK ?

Perhaps a resolution from the floor at the next agm ?

HARD copies to be made available in all food banks ????