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BJSW Advance Access published online on July 3, 2009
British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcp081
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved

A Study of the Carers Strategy (2000): Supporting Carers in Wales

Diane Seddon, Catherine Robinson, Yvonne Tommis, Bob Woods, Jenny Perry and Ian Russell

Diane Seddon is a Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences, Bangor University, whose main research interests are care-giving, assessment and care management and the health and social care interface. Catherine Robinson is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences, Bangor University, whose research interests include social care and health care policy, policy implementation and practice development. Yvonne Tommis is a Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences, Bangor University. She has many years' post-doctoral experience in health and social care research, particularly with regard to questionnaire design and analysis. Bob Woods is Professor of Clinical Psychology of Older People, School of Psychology, Bangor University. His recent research has focused on caring relationships and the evaluation of interventions designed to assist carers. Jenny Perry is a Research Officer in the Institute of Medical and Social Care Research, Bangor University, whose research interests include social gerontology. Ian Russell is Professor of Clinical Trials, School of Medicine, Swansea University.

Correspondence to Diane Seddon, School of Social Sciences, Neuadd Ogwen, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG, Wales, UK. E-mail: d.seddon{at}bangor.ac.uk


  Abstract

The Carers Strategies in England and Wales herald opportunities to develop new ways to support carers. This paper reports findings from a five-year study looking at the Carers Strategy in Wales. It presents interview data arising from fieldwork with carers and statutory and voluntary sector staff. Our findings highlight a gap between the positive perceptions of staff concerning improvements in the availability and types of support to carers and carers' everyday experiences. Whilst staff suggested that the Carers Strategy has encouraged the development of innovative services that broaden the parameters of support to carers, this was not always reflected in carers' experiences. Staff highlighted changes to the carer assessment process that specify carer-defined outcomes must be made explicit as having had a positive effect on the commissioning and delivery of new services. However, only a limited number of carers were in receipt of these services and they reported problems relating to their organisation and delivery. This paper offers insights that are instructive to practitioners as they seek to implement person-centred and outcome-focused approaches to supporting carers. The need to pay closer attention to carer-defined outcomes and capture carer perspectives on the quality of services is highlighted.

Keywords: Carers Strategy, outcome-focused, person-centred, innovation, change


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