Abstract
In Wales, there are 370,000 people providing unpaid care and support to family members and loved ones. Such people make a huge contribution to improving the quality of thousands of people’s lives and save the economy millions of pounds every year. In 2014, the Welsh Government introduced the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014, which came into force in April 2016. The Act establishes new duties upon Local Authorities to ensure people have access to the relevant information, carer assessments, and advocacy services.
This is the second report of a study completed in partnership with DEWIS CIL. It was completed between February and April 2017 in the five local authority areas of Gwent, South Wales. The overarching study question was:
‘What are the views and experiences of advocacy services, with particular reference to the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014?’
Dewis CIL had an established relationship with the BSc Health and Social Care Management degree programme at the University of South Wales. A year 3 student placement was extended to include the questionnaire and observations as a year 3 final project. Those findings are not reported here. This report focuses on the in-depth interviews completed by Dr Carolyn Wallace, Reader in Integrated Care at University of South Wales and PRIME Centre Wales. Ethical approval was gained from the University of South Wales.
The key messages from this study are:
•Carers are still uncertain as to what the term advocacy means.
•There are mixed feeling about the delivery and value of the carer assessment in its current form.
•Carers received the majority of their information through informal carer networks, family and friends.
•During the last year carers were still experiencing some difficulty in getting the advice they needed.
•The carers interviewed provided a description of a future advocacy service which comprises of accessing information through multiple resources, specialist advocacy services delivered by the third sector complimented by a network of volunteers.
The report closes by providing recommendations for a way forward in light of the findings.
This is the second report of a study completed in partnership with DEWIS CIL. It was completed between February and April 2017 in the five local authority areas of Gwent, South Wales. The overarching study question was:
‘What are the views and experiences of advocacy services, with particular reference to the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014?’
Dewis CIL had an established relationship with the BSc Health and Social Care Management degree programme at the University of South Wales. A year 3 student placement was extended to include the questionnaire and observations as a year 3 final project. Those findings are not reported here. This report focuses on the in-depth interviews completed by Dr Carolyn Wallace, Reader in Integrated Care at University of South Wales and PRIME Centre Wales. Ethical approval was gained from the University of South Wales.
The key messages from this study are:
•Carers are still uncertain as to what the term advocacy means.
•There are mixed feeling about the delivery and value of the carer assessment in its current form.
•Carers received the majority of their information through informal carer networks, family and friends.
•During the last year carers were still experiencing some difficulty in getting the advice they needed.
•The carers interviewed provided a description of a future advocacy service which comprises of accessing information through multiple resources, specialist advocacy services delivered by the third sector complimented by a network of volunteers.
The report closes by providing recommendations for a way forward in light of the findings.
Original language | English |
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Publisher | University of South Wales |
Commissioning body | DEWIS Centre for Independent Living |
Number of pages | 19 |
Publication status | Published - May 2017 |
Keywords
- carers wellbeing
- advocacy
- Wales