SOCIO: Informal Carers

Question 1

define: social care, long-term support, informal care

Answer 1

social care: providing long term support for adults

long-term support: services which have been provided with the intention to improve quality of life. It is:
- ongoing
- via an eligibility system and assessment of needs
- it is regularly reviewed

informal care: care provided by family members, based on kinship obligations

Question 2

describe the potential social and psychological costs of undertaking the role of informal carer *

Answer 2

1. financial
   - due to e.g. quitting job or reducing hours
2. carers have less independence
   - also a reduction in social participation
   - because they may have to give up their own careers as the demands of working don’t balance with care responsibilities
   - may have to depend on others too
3. carers lose social status
   - taking on an unpaid care role is largely undervalued in society
4. social isolation
   - time demands to meet the amount of care needed mean outside leisure activities and maintaining friendships are hard to achieve
   - can lead to social isolation
5. it is physically laborious
   - this is particularly demanding for carers who are themselves elderly
6. changes familial relations
   - relationship tensions can arise because the person being cared for is more dependent than before/normally
7. the person who is BEING cared for feels frustration/anger
   - due to their physical condition
   - cannot express this to their partner in a way they would be able to to a formal/professional carer

Question 3

outline the current framework for social care provision in England and Wales

Answer 3

legally:
- carers should be supported in combining their paid employment with their caring responsibilities
- carers should be informed + consulted about decisions concerning those they care for
- HCPs should consider health of the carers of their pts
- support to carers should include housing adaptations + improvements, training + providing them with regular breaks from caring

Carers Act 2014 (following Carers Act 2005)
- introduced National Eligibility Criteria: now helps more people than before when system helped those more critically in need of support
- statutory requirement for local authorities to collaborate with other public authorities (e.g. housing)
- + local authorities must prevent, reduce, delay the need for care and support