Janet Down only realised she was a full-time carer for her disabled husband when she fell ill a few years ago and could not look after him. Suffering back pain from lifting and depression from coping unsupported, her inability to care for 65-year-old Dave exposed just how much she did for him. This prompted her to recognise her role, accept she needed help and find leaflets about caring at her library.

Carer aware, an innovative project that Down subsequently participated in and designed by Dudley borough council, is making it easier for carers like Down to get support. The online mini-training toolkit offers an explanation of carers’ rights, better access to support and reassurance that professionals are recognising carers’ issues. Down now champions the scheme as chair of Dudley Carers Forum. “Knowing how and what the carer is entitled to receive is empowering,” she says.

The toolkit outlines carer facts and figures, clarifies the legal definition of being a carer – with implications for benefits or insurance, for example – shows where to get support, and helps providers understand how they can better support carers. Asian older careers are supported to do the course and encouraged to spread the word about carers’ rights, diversifying Dudley borough council’s reach with the toolkit.

The council developed the course with online learning company Cylix after realising that it only knew a fraction of the 35,000 carers in Dudley – a figure based on 2001 statistics, so today’s figure will be higher. There is also a statutory duty in the 2000 Carers and Disabled Children Act to advise carers of their right to assessment. Feedback from participants shows better knowledge about the aim of carers’ assessments. One father caring for his son said he did not realise the aim of assessment was to enable carers to carry on caring.

Since its launch on carers rights day last summer, 40 other UK councils have adopted the toolkit. It is also recognised as good practice by the Department of Health, which primed the project with £15,000, as well as the Social Care Institute for Excellence, Skills for Care and the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.

Projects like carer aware are vital, according to campaign group Carers UK, which stresses that carers save the state £119bn a year in support. Steve McIntosh, Carers UK policy and public affairs manager, explains: “The majority of people take over a year to recognise themselves as carers and access support. Without information on the practical and financial support available, carers are more likely to be forced to give up work to care and being pushed into ill-health, isolation and debt.”

Dudley’s scheme is not aimed at professional carers employed by agencies, but can be useful for them as it can give more information on families’ support needs. Home care – commissioned by councils to help vulnerable people at home – was the focus of a recent Equality and Human Rights report which presented evidence of a “systematic failure”.

Dudley council carers’ co-ordinator Christine Rowley adds that existing training courses were expensive and limited in numbers: “We had to find a way of providing training to people when they needed it, and to staff as well as carers, so everyone gets the same information.”

Rowley also says there are benefits in the course for professional carers: “People need to know about who they’re working with, so they recognise they’re all partners in care – you can learn from each other.” Carer aware is also open to all staff, not just social care employees.

Carers often only realise their role at crisis point when it is difficult to get help, so it makes sense to enable more people to signpost them to support. Participants get accreditation and can display a logo to show awareness. Around 500 Dudley staff, including housing staff and employees at all 13 libraries have done the course, plus two GP surgeries and a care provider, MDH Support.

Rowley adds of the human resources impact: “Carer aware shows prospective staff what support the council offers. While we have a carers’ charter – a statement saying we recognise your role – the course tells you what rights are.” She adds that the course can be dipped in and out of over days, but takes two hours to do in one sitting.

The resource, which costs £9,500 for a three-year licence from the company Dudley developed it with, is cost-efficient as other councils only have to add links to local information. Because it’s online, carers can be trained remotely, instead of at costly training sessions. But from January it will combine this with face-to-face sessions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/social-care-network/2011/dec/19/more-recognition-role-carers?newsfeed=true