Tag Archives: carers

How technology could help monitor and treat mental health conditions

August 12, 2014   Carers, Featured Article, health, mental health

Technology has the potential to make significant and cost-effective contributions to mental healthcare

Mobile phone usage has seen huge increases in recent years, especially in poorer countries, writes Conor Farrington. Photograph: Bloomberg

Mental health care is often described as the Cinderella of medicine – overlooked, disparaged, and generally neglected. In the UK, mental health care is the single biggest item on the NHS budget (£12.16bn in 2010/11), but in practice this means that only about 11% of the overall spend is allocated to deal with 23% of the disease burden. Recent cuts have also hit mental health care significantly harder than acute hospitals, creating a combination of falling capacity and rising demand. Mental healthcare appears to suffer from the same stigma in policy circles as individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder experience in private life. And just as stigma leads to worse outcomes for individuals with mental health problems, the underfunding of mental health care leads to higher long-term costs for the NHS.

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Dearne MP’s pledge to support carers

August 10, 2014   Carers, family, Featured Article, kinship carer

A few days ago I welcomed two women from the Dearne to Westminster.

They were among 50 ‘kinship’ carers who had come to talk to MPs – grandparents and other relatives who raise children who can no longer live with their parents.

As Julie, from Goldthorpe, and Karen, from Wath, told me, they just wanted to keep the children in the family.

They stepped in because they loved the child and wanted to do the right thing – but suddenly taking on a full-time caring role in your 50s or 60s can come at a high price.

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Lack of funding could threaten Care Act reforms, councils warn

August 8, 2014   Carers, Featured Article, Older care, Social care, ukcuts

Local Government Association poll highlights council concerns over cost burdens of landmark reforms

By on August 7, 2014 in Adults, Care Act 2014

Nine out of ten councils believe that key planks of the Care Act will be jeopardised unless the government gives local authorities ‘adequate’ funding to implement the reforms, a survey by the Local Government Association has found.

In reforms to be introduced in April 2016, the Act will allow self-funding service users to request an assessment to be considered for a ‘cap’ on their care costs. But the LGA poll of 152 local authorities found that councils had “major” concerns over the cost of the policy.

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