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DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS TO MEASURE SERVICE USER AND CARER SATISFACTION WITH SINGLE SHARED ASSESSMENT
Carers' Guidelines for community care assessors
These guidelines were drawn up by a group of carers. They are for assessors to use when carers are present at Single Shared Assessment discussions.
Who are "carers"?
The group acknowledged that most people do not see themselves as carers, but as family members or friends who provide support and care on an unpaid basis.
Sometimes, several family members (e.g. adult children) may share the caring role, but only one may be involved in assessment discussions.
Sometimes the person providing support at an assessment may not be a carer in the sense of "helping to care", but is there just for that meeting, e.g. to interpret.
The assessor has to establish the role in which someone else is present at the discussion.
Why should carers be involved?
The carers group saw carers' interest in the assessment discussion as two-fold:
firstly, as people who can assist the service user's communication with the assessor (when wished by the person).
secondly as having a direct interest in the assessment and its outcomes as significant providers of the person's care.
They also acknowledged that there might often be a conflict of interest between a carer and the person they care for. They suggested that an independent advocate would be helpful to the person being assessed where conflicts of interest were identified by the assessor.
If a carer is going to be present:
Before the meeting
Please make sure
We and the people we care for have preparatory information
That the time and place of meeting suits us and the people we care for
That together with the people we care for we can organise any financial information needed from us in advance
That we know about Carers Assessments, about who is entitled to them and about what these enable us to discuss. That is, our ability and willingness to continue providing care, our own support needs, and our views of what is needed for the person we care for. We need to know that we can have this discussion separately from the meeting now being arranged with the person we care for.
During our discussion
We would like you to remember:
We and the people we care for have a relationship as husband/wife, parent/child, etc - in addition to the caring relationship
These relationships are likely to be very important - often much more so than services which may result from the assessment process
We need you to be sensitive to these relationships and work in partnership with both or all of the people involved
Please be sensitive to the many conflicting emotions which are part of the caring experience
When you arrive, please remember that we need to get the seating arrangement right for all of us. We need to feel comfortable with where we are in relationship to each other so that it is easy for us to communicate with each other and for the carer to give any help needed. You should be able to make easy eye contact with both of us
Sometimes, we, the carers, may be the householder, for example if we are looking after our son or daughter, or a parent
Please find out about and acknowledge the carer's position as a carer - without making the service user feel that they are a burden or problem
You need to be aware that it may come as a shock to many people to be called "a carer" - especially to older people or to people who have not had previous experience of disability or illness. So you may need to explain the use of the term "carer" in a way that's acceptable to both of us - the service user and carer
As carers we may have pressing personal worries which could affect the discussion. Please ensure that we are aware of our right to our own assessment of our ability and willingness to continue providing care and of our own needs as carers. As carers we may want to be assured at this stage that this can be a separate discussion.
In discussing the person's needs and what help they could get, please give us both enough information so that we can form a view about what is most important to us. You may need to give technical information about aids and adaptations which will be operated by the carer.
Sometimes there may be disagreement about priorities between us - carer and service user. But often our joint view will reflect what will make life better for the person being assessed and for the carer
If you can see that there are disagreements it may be helpful to discuss - tactfully - how to get an independent advocate for the service
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