Carer and family support

Carers save the government an estimated £87 billion a year. Providing appropriate support for carers could increase this huge saving, as well as improve health and wellbeing outcomes for them and the people they care for.

We welcome the Government's commitment to carer's breaks, as set out in the Caerers' Strategy 2010, which our members campaigned for. However, the provision of breaks alone cannot achieve the Department of Health's aim of giving carers a caring system that's on their side and a life of their own.

Rethink Mental Illness was established by carers and our aim is to give them, and those they care for, a voice in every aspect of mental health provision. We believe that carers play an invaluable role in helping people recover from severe mental illness and that they should be acknowledged, valued and supported.

As the largest national voluntary sector provider of mental health services we know that caring for someone with mental illness is challenging. Mental illness is a fluctuating condition, often misunderstood and stigmatised, causing considerable emotional distreass to carers.

We have developed a range of services to meet the complex needs of carers for people with severe mental illness, and are ideally placed to work in partnership with commissioners to deliver their commitments to carers.

Our range of carer support services operate within our own Quality Assurance Programme and include:

• Support groups. Our network of over 150 support groups brings carers and people with severe mental illness together to share information and experience. "A confidential forum in which carers can share their worries, problems and feel they are not alone is crucial for helping each other move along to a better place." Jenny, user of Warwickshire Carer Service.
• Support services. Accessing Carer Assessments with local authorities, acting as advocates, advising on appointeeship (ability to claim benefits on behalf of the person they care for) and helping them to find work and to enjoy and develop lives outside caring. Our service in Warwickshire, run in partnership with the County Council and PCT, provides information and practical and emotional support to mental health carers. We can provide home visits, respite care and emergency support.
• Caring and Coping - a course from Rethink Mental Illness. An expert carers' course designed for those caring for people with a severe mental illness. It conveys a sense of optimism and hope while offering educaiton an training based around day-to-day practicalities. "This course has changed my life and my perspective of services and mental illness." Sarah, course participant.
• Advice, information and online support. We provide expert advice and information on the often confusing world of mental health, as well as practical support with casework. 46% of calls to our advice service are from carers. We produce a wide range of Information Standard accredited written information, including fact sheets, resource packs and books. Our research team works with the Institute of Psychiatry and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to run an innovative website providing information about psychosis for family and friends. "I now feel armed with as much infomration and help as possible." Rethink Mental Illness supporter.
• Helplines. We provide specialist helplines covering particular areas or for particular groups of carers or users of our services.
• Published research based on carers' experiences. We have been working with FACTOR (Families/ Friends and Carers Together in Research) on an innovative programme to involve carers in research and to make research information available to carers.

Improving access to services and information

Through our research and our members, we are keenly aware of the problems carers often face accessing services and information. We work in partnership with local authorities and PCTs to raise awareness of some of these problems and find solutions.

West Essex PCT and NHS West Essex commissioned us to work with local Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities to improve their awareness of wellbing and mental health issues and reduce barriers to accessing services. We then facilitated a consultation event that included GPs and representatives from the communities to overcome cultural differences and misconceptions on both sides about mental illness and the role of carers.

Training for professionals

We develop and deliver training for mental health professionals to help them work in partnership with carers. We have been commissioned by the Department of Health to deliver training on carers of people with mental health problems to Local Authority carers' service leads, to raise their awareness of the needs and concerns of this group.

Involvement

We are committed to working in partnership with people who use our services and their carers. The majority of our Board of Trustees are people who have used mental health services or who care for a family member with mental illness. As such, we are in a unique position to facilitate carers' involvement in the development of services, policies and legislation that affect them. For example, we were heavily involved in Lord Bradley's review of the crminal justice system for people with mental illness.

In collaboration with the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Alzheimer's Society, we have developed and tested a new tool to measure carers' well-being and satisfaction with support. The Carers' Well-Being and Support Measure (CWS) is the first validated tool to be developed specifically for carers of people with mental health problems or dementia, and to include carers in the design of the measure. Our research team is now developing a process for carer support planning and outcome capture which will be integrated with CWS.