Caring as a social determinant of health: review of evidence

Caring as a social determinant of health: review of evidence
PHE 19 March 2021

• This report adds to the growing evidence that unpaid caring should be considered a social determinant of health. The main findings are: mounting evidence that unpaid caring should be considered a social determinant of health; carers experience poor physical and mental health but also have unmet care needs themselves; different groups of carers may have different support needs; a lack of clear and robust evidence about how best to support people caring for older populations, and gaps in evidence on key outcomes. 
• It includes ‘access enablers’ as important in ensuring that carers are connected with relevant services and interventions on offer. Social prescribing is one of these enablers.

Carers action plan 2018 to 2020: 1-year progress review

Carers action plan 2018 to 2020: 1-year progress review
DHSC 23 July 2019

• Sets out the progress that has been made towards fulfilling the commitments in the carers action plan 2018 to 2020.

Carers’ breaks: guidance for commissioners and providers

Carers’ breaks: guidance for commissioners and providers
SCIE 20 June 2019

• Guidance for commissioners, providers and others involved in the planning, shaping and delivery of support for adult carers, primarily in England. 
• The guidance includes almost 30 practice examples of how organisations are using a wide range of resources and services to support carers to have a break: from hotels offering free stays – to GP prescriptions for breaks.

Carers Innovation Fund

Carers Innovation Fund
DHSC 12 June 2019

• The £5 million Carers Innovation Fund will invest in innovative ways of supporting unpaid carers, outside of mainstream health and care services. This funding will be used to improve support across the country and help build more carer-friendly communities.
• The fund was first announced last year as part of the Carers Action Plan, a cross-government programme of targeted work to support unpaid carers over the next 2 years.

Supporting carers in general practice: a framework of quality markers

Supporting carers in general practice: a framework of quality markers
NHS England 11 June 2019

• This document offers a series of practical ideas that have been developed in partnership with carers, primary care teams and other key stakeholders. Collectively, these provide a framework for improving how general practice can better identify and support carers of all ages.

Caring alone: Why BAME young carers continue to struggle to access support

Caring alone: Why Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic young carers continue to struggle to access support
Barnardo's 25 April 2019

• Research has found that BAME young carers are more likely than other young carers to be isolated from support services.

Carer Research and Knowledge Exchange Network (CAREN)

Carer Research and Knowledge Exchange Network (CAREN)
Open University

• A freely accessible knowledge exchange resource based on Carers’ lives & caring issues: knowledge & research evidence, a scoping review of knowledge and research evidence relating to carers and carers lives and issues.
• The resources are organised into 62 themes which are listed under four major categories
• Carer variables - The characteristics and features of different types of carer and caring situations.
• Impact of care - The consequences and sequela of caring.
• Support and carers - The provision and impact of general and specific help and support.
• Type of care - The nature of needs of the cared for person, and the features of the care situation

Understanding carers (Resource)

Understanding carers: a guide for local authorities
Nuffield Trust 8 October 2018

• Sources of information to help local authorities understand the needs of carers in their area. Includes number and characteristics of carers, services for carers, carers experiences, Carers: outcome measures.

Carers action plan 2018 to 2020

Carers action plan 2018 to 2020
DHSC updated 13 September 2018
The plan sets out the cross-government programme of work to support carers over the next 2 years.
It is structured around the following themes:

• services and systems that work for carers
• employment and financial wellbeing
• supporting young carers
• recognising and supporting carers in the wider community and society
• building research and evidence to improve outcomes for carers

Caring for Carers

Caring for Carers
Social Market Foundation 16 July 2018

• This report focuses on the demographics and experiences of those who provide family care. 
• The paper suggests much greater use of “care navigators” to help family carers guide elderly relatives through the complex system of public sector bodies likely to be involved in their overall package of care.

Carers - intelligence, rights and government policy

Carers
House of Commons Library briefing, 25 November 2016

• Information about the number of carers in the UK and the issues they face. It also explains the rights, benefits and support available to carers and Government policy on caring. 

Building bridges, breaking barriers: Integrated care for older people

Building bridges, breaking barriers: Integrated care for older people
CQC 13 July 2016

• This report looks at how well care for older people is integrated across health and social care, as well as the impact on older people who use services and their families and carers.
• Recommendations:
• Health and social care leaders should develop and agree a shared understanding and definition of what integrated care means for the population in their local area, and then work towards delivering this shared aim.
• NHS England and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services should lead on developing an agreed methodology and data set for identifying people at risk of admission to secondary care or deterioration.
• Older people should be meaningfully involved in making informed decisions about their care needs and care planning – in particular about the outcomes that are important to them – based on the existing national and local guidance.
• Commissioners and providers in an area should ensure that information and support for older people and their families or carers is available, and this sets out connections between services, and how the people's accessibility needs will be met.
• The National Quality Board, in partnership with the National Information Board, develop and share a set of validated data metrics and outcomes measures for integrated care with person-centred outcomes at the heart of decision making about service provision and based on a consistent, shared view and definition of integration.

State of Caring 2016

State of Caring 2016
Carers UK

• One year on from the implementation of the Care Act 2014 – designed to improve support for carers – a survey of  6,149 carers  in England indicates that they are still struggling to get the support they need to care well, maintain their own health, balance work and care, and have a life of their own outside of caring.

How patient and carer leaders can make a difference

Improving Experience of Care through people who use services: How patient and carer leaders can make a difference
NHS England August 2015

• There is no single model for patient leadership and organisations will have different approaches. Findings suggest that when NHS organisations want to involve patient leaders as partners or enhance existing activity, ensuring these conditions are in place and supporting these 10 building blocks, will increase their chances of success.
• 10 building blocks for developing patient leadership:
• Invest in Patient Leaders 
• 1. Make patient leaders an integral part of formal and informal decision-making 
• 2. Get patient leaders involved in the experience of care, shaping, co-designing and leading proposals from the earliest stage 
• 3. Ensure systems invest in tailored, task-specific training and development of patient leaders 
• 4. Devote time, resources and effort to building strong and meaningful relationships of respect and trust with patient leaders 
• 5. Ensure that patient leaders can easily access what matters to local people as feedback that is robust, evidence-based and easy to understand and use 
• 6. Listen to patients whose voices are traditionally not heard, using a range of media and working closely with organisations that have existing links with these communities 
• Put robust feedback mechanisms in place so that organisations listen 
• 7. Place equal emphasis on making sense of and responding to the qualitative feedback from stories as on the quantitative evidence from numbers 
• 8. Systematically log feedback AND report back (close the loop) on what has changed as a result of feedback 
• Develop the culture and systems to act on feedback 


• 9. Foster an ‘improvement mind-set’ through the organisation so that everyone believes change is possible and things can be done differently 
• 10. Put in place the supporting roles for transforming care outlined in the ‘8 Role Model’as below.

Care Act 2014 Part 1 factsheets - duties and powers of LAs

Care Act 2014 Part 1: factsheets
Department of Health, 6 June 2014(Updated October 2014)

• These factsheets, which accompany Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, provide an overview and the duties and powers local authorities will have in the future.
• Factsheet 1: general responsibilities of local authorities: prevention, information and advice, and shaping the market of care and support services
• Factsheet 2: who is entitled to public care and support?
• Factsheet 3: assessing needs and determining eligibility
• Factsheet 4: personalising care and support planning
• Factsheet 5: charging and financial assessments
• Factsheet 6: reforming how people pay for their care and support
• Factsheet 7: protecting adults from abuse or neglect
• Factsheet 8: the law for carers
• Factsheet 9: continuity of care when moving between areas
• Factsheet 10: market oversight and provider failure
• Factsheet 11: transition for children to adult care and support
• Factsheet 12: prisoners and people in resident in approved premises