Becky Evans, Hayley Pugh, Ruth Jenkins & Anwyn Jenkins
Credu Supporting Carers (Powys)
Project Background:
Credu is a third sector organisation that supports unpaid carers, working closely with carers themselves to support their physical and emotional needs. Unpaid carers have repeatedly expressed that they feel unseen and undervalued by the Health and Social Care system – this is an issue as it has a real impact on carers’ physical and mental health, as well as their ability to continue caring the best they can. Unpaid carers save the Health and Social Care system £8.1 billion annually, so it is in the best interests of the country to support these people the best we can.
Credu knows that Health and Social Care workers want to support unpaid carers but they struggle to effectively communicate with carers and recognise their needs. This project aims to bridge this gap in communication between unpaid carers and paid Health and Social Care (H&SC) workers.
Project Aims:
Our overall aim is to promote holistic and efficient communication in H&SC systems to help the paid carers care for the unpaid carers. We will achieve this by:
- Listening to the service providers, noticing their strengths and difficulties
- Providing free, bespoke resources to enable teams to practice valuing and supporting carers
- Monitoring and evaluating the effect these resources and practices have on service providers and the unpaid carers they support
Project Outcomes:
- Credu is establishing mutually beneficial relationships with surgeries, offering training and support to surgeries while surgeries value, identify and signpost unpaid carers to Credu
- Common themes regarding people’s struggles have been identified, which can be used to make Credu’s services more efficient and relevant for unpaid carers
- Awareness-raising activities undertaken, and information distributed
Project Impact:
So far:
- Collaborative communication has been taught to 17 people
- 10 drop-in sessions held, with a total of 115 meaningful conversations held with community members and potential unpaid carers regarding needs and concerns. The average number of conversations held per drop-in was 12
- GPs practices sent 3 referrals to Credu and of those, 1 person wanted to register to be on Credu’s system.
- 2 potential volunteers were recruited during drop-in sessions
- Several people identified as unpaid carers during the drop in sessions and were signposted to additional information and resources
View the project poster and slides from the Cohort 8 Bevan Exemplar Showcase
