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The Health and Wellbeing Project

Photos by Neil Meddemmen

Welcome to CCC’s Health and Wellbeing web page. We intend the page to be used by both carers and professionals as a resource about the Department of Health’s health checks project and for additional research specifically looking at the links between caring and health.

On this page you will find:

Health Checks

CCC is piloting this new health project, developed in partnership with London Borough of Camden and NHS Camden. Funded directly by the Department of Health, the aim of the project is to improve the health and wellbeing of carers. (Please see below for the DoH’s statement on carers’ health.)

Camden was awarded the funding to provide health checks to carers in a selection of wards in Camden. The wards were chosen on the basis of the population density of carers and the highest levels on the national scale of deprivation.

The wards covered are:

Gospel Oak

Kentish Town

Highgate

Kilburn

Camden Town and Primrose Hill

Haverstock

Regents Park

St Pancras and Somers Town

Kings Cross

Please click here for a copy of CCC’s information leaflet for carers

Why health and wellbeing checks for carers?

Photo by Neil Meddemmen

Research indicates many links between caring and health. Carers’ own health can suffer as a consequence of their caring roles and they often find it difficult to attend GP appointments due to caring responsibilities. Lack of sleep, stress and manual handling (lifting etc), plus ageing and isolation, all combine to make carers a very vulnerable group. The project aims to provide health and wellbeing checks to those carers who would traditionally find it difficult to access health and support services. Health checks are provided at a number of locations and we will make home visits to carers who are not able to get out, either through illness or caring commitments.

What constitutes a health check?

The health check is carried out by a qualified nurse who will calculate your Body Mass Index (height and weight), blood pressure and glucose and cholesterol levels. The latter is done by taking a finger-prick blood sample and results are delivered within five minutes. (You do not need to fast for these tests.)

In addition carers are given the opportunity to have a one-to-one discussion about the following issues:

Questions from carers

We are encouraging our nurses to be holistic and carer-centred in their approach and to help carers think and plan for long-term good health as well as immediate health. They will take an empathetic approach but recognise the need to motivate carers with respect to the areas of health need that carers want to change.

What happens to the results?

The health check results are fully explained to the carer by the nurse and a copy is sent to the carers’ GP via a secure NHS email, fax and letter. The GP then has the opportunity to review the results and, if necessary, to follow up with further tests or treatment.

Wellbeing support

Wellbeing support workers are available to work alongside the health checks on issues such as:

The project can also make a referral to WISH, which offers help with:

Specialist referrals can be made for :

The wellbeing support worker is there to support the carer in whatever goals they would like to achieve. These can be related to their caring role or training or work opportunities. The project provides each carer with booklet that they own and that helps them to focus on personal goals. The booklet will follow the carer through the project. Please click here to download a copy of the booklet.

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Carers’ Primary Care Development

A resource for GP surgeries to help them identify carers within their own practices

The Carers’ Primary Care Development Co-ordinator (CPCDC) will:

Aims — to work towards:

What we can do for your practice:

The GP guide for good practice: ‘Supporting Carers’ — an action guide for general practitioners and their teams

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers (PRTC), in partnership with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), funded a study which produced this report (please see link to full report below.)

The ‘Supporting Carers’action guide aims to ensure carers are recognised in practices so that they and those they care for enjoy better health. The guide seeks to encourage the sharing of good practice nationally and raise awareness within teams.

GP surgeries are usually the first place that carers have contact with the NHS and GPs are uniquely placed to recognise that someone is, or is likely to become, a carer. From that point on they can start to support the carer’s needs.

“The relationship between carer and GP practice is a special one and should be recognised as a partnership in care,” writes Professor Nigel Sparrow, Chair of the Professional Development Board at RCGP, in his introduction to the guide.

Carol Cochrane, Chief Executive of the PRTC, says: “We believe that this guide will help develop a greater understanding of carers’ issues and the support that they need within GP practices.”

The guide outlines:

Please go to www.carers.org/professionals/health/articles/carers-in-practice-rcgp where you can download the full report.

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Health professionals’ section

Follow this link for a copy of CCC’s information leaflet for health professionals

Containing links to research documents that have examined the link between caring and health.

Putting people first without putting people second

This report, launched in February 2009, was produced jointly by the PRTC and Crossroads, Caring for Carers. It looks at how carers and the services that support them are responding to the personalisation agenda. http://static.carers.org/files/ppf-final-3920.pdf

Putting people first and supporting carers

Prepared by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Service (ADASS) this paper was published in 2009. The paper identifies some messages for local partnerships around five high impact areas and offers a “quality of life” model for discussion as a means of furthering the shared vision around the transformation of social care. http://static.carers.org/files/ppfsc-final-document-2009-4612.pdf

Partners in Care – working together to make a real difference  

Sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, a sample of 1,066 carers was interviewed; the report highlights common issues experienced by carers as a consequence of their caring role. http://static.carers.org/files/carershealthsurvey-12.pdf

In Poor Health - The impact of caring on health

"Carers who provide high levels of care for sick, or disabled relatives and friends, unpaid, are more than twice as likely to suffer from poor health compared to people without caring responsibilities." (Census 2001, Office of National Statistics)

Carers UK published this major report on carers' health in December 2004; the full report is available to download here: http://static.carers.org/files/in-poor-health-carers-uk-report-1674.pdf  

Making a referral

Primary care staff can make referrals to Camden Carers Centre by downloading the application and sending it via the following options:

Please click here to download a Health Check referral form.

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