Carers
The Ageing and Aged Care in Australia booklet
The Ageing and Aged Care in Australia booklet provides a concise overview of the Australian Government's ageing and aged care policies and programs.
Aged Care & the Participatory Advisory Committee
Department of Human Services are exploring strategies to build consumer participation in project governance (e.g. consumer representative on Quality Indicators Project Steering Committee) & obtain resident feedback on service developments.
This 2005 report from Roseanne Hepburn for Carers Victoria found that although very few Indigenous people identify as carers, many have significant care responsibilities. Their stories show the legacies of colonisation, dispossession and racism, and a strong need for culturally appropriate support and respite.
This article describes the Carer Life Course Framework developed by Deanna Pagnini as part of the Carers Mental Health Project, a three-year project undertaken by Carers NSW to enhance carers’ wellbeing and reduce the negative impacts of caring for people with a mental illness or disorder.
Carers Australia represents the needs and interests of carers at the national level through advocacy, influencing government policy and providing information and education for carers. Their website provides information about Carers Australia's work in the areas of research, policy, and advocacy.
Carers Victoria supports carers and raises awareness of carers' issues. The site has a wealth of resources including training details, stories from carers and 'Surviving the Maze', a collection of practical guides and information sheets.
Carers, recognition and partners in healthcare
Presented by Elena Katrakis on behalf of Carers NSW at the Consumers Reforming Health Conference, July 2011.
Communicating with consumers and carers
Produced by VQC
Consumer, Carer and Community Participation Resource
This resource has been developed to assist primary health agencies increase the participation of consumers, carers and the community in their health service. It contains information and resources developed for four workshops that focused on three key themes: the connection between consumer participation, health promotion and community development; engaging newly arrived communities; and consumer participation and chronic disease management.
This is a United Kingdom site aimed at consumers, carers, families and health professionals. It offers information and support on a range of illnesses and conditions, with the focus on people sharing their experiences in written, audio and video form.
Engaging Cancer Patients and their Carers: The Grampians experience
Presented by Anthony Love at the Consumers Refroming Health Conference 2011.
Experiences and Needs of People Caring for Those with High Prevalence Mental Health Disorders
The Network for Carers of People with a Mental Illness and beyondblue recently conducted a joint project investigating the experiences of carers and families of people who have anxiety, depression, or an eating disorder. This article summarises the main issues and considers them in of terms of relevant government policies and initiatives.
Family Participation in Residential Dementia Care
Preseneted by Kaye Ervin at the Consumers Reforming Health Conference 2011.
Family caregivers, patients and physicians: ethical guidance to optimize
A new position paper from the American College of Physicians (ACP) provides ethical guidance to physicians for developing mutually supportive patient-physician-caregiver relationships.
Finding consumers and carers: a guide to sourcing consumers
Looking for a Consumer Organisation?
This directory compiled by the Victorian Quality Council allows health services to search for consumer organisations with members willing to become involved in quality improvement. Each entry includes contact details for the organisation along with its aims and activities. Entries are listed both alphabetically by name and by category. Other features of the site include lists of other directories, peak bodies and links to useful websites.
Health of Australians with disabilities: health status and risk factors
Produced by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. This bulletin explores the health status and risk factors for people with disabilities.
Presented by Sue Robins at the Consumers Refroming Health Conference 2011.
Multiple Sclerosis Australia strives to enhance the quality of life of people with multiple sclerosis and reduce the impact of MS on the families and carers of those with multiple sclerosis
Narratives in a users' and carers' group: meanings and impact
The article describes how narratives are used to facilitate sharing experiences amongst carers.
No Greater Gift - A Carer's Perspective on the Palliative Care Journey.
Presented by Gaye Moore at the Consumers Reforming Health Conference 2011.
On the Receiving End: A Consumer’s Perspective of Care in the Community
This article explores the consumer experience of Hospital in the Home (HITH) through the prism of the author’s and her family’s experience with post acute discharge practices and palliative care in the home. It raises issues concerning home care’s impact on the lives of consumers and their carers. Will families and communities be able to provide the support their unwell members require? How will people without family and friends to ‘help out’ cope?
One in Five: Responding to the needs of people with a disbaility.
Presented by Noni Bourke at the Consumers Reforming Health Conference 2011.
Participation in your Health Service System
Victorian Consumers, Carers, and the Community Working Together with their Health Service and the Department of Human Services: Consultation Paper. This consultation was held to help develop a consumer participation policy for use across the Victorian health care system.
This paper describes a study to evaluate the impact of the standards about participation on practice in an adult mental health service. Hospital and community files were audited for evidence of participation and for surveys of carers and consumers relating to the quality of participation. The audits were undertaken before and after the introduction standards.
Quality in Public Sector Residential Aged Care: Where to from here?
The Integrated aged care projects report presents the results of three major quality projects undertaken over 2008-2009, as part of the Department of Health Residential Aged Care ‘Beyond Compliance’ Strategy.
This integrated report synthesises the findings of three separate yet inter-related projects, to identify the key aspects of residential aged care quality systems, and to identify directions and actions to drive safe and quality care for residents into the future.
Residential Care for Older People
A guide for families & carers in culturally & linguistically diverse communities in Victoria residential care.
Ten year roadmap for national mental health reform: draft
The draft roadmap details a commitment by governments to a long-term national reform plan for mental health to guide future action and investment across Australia over the next ten years.
The roadmap is a key component of the Australian Government's Delivering national mental health reform package of the 2011-12 budget. The draft has been developed with states and territories, informed by input from mental health experts, including mental health consumers and carers.
The Importance of Carer Representation and Participation in Policy Development: A Carer’s Experience
Carers NSW receives requests from federal, state and local governments and agencies for carers to represent Carers NSW on various committees, consultations and forums. In response to this, Carers NSW has recently launched a pilot ‘best practice’ model of carer representation. The Carer Representation Program (CRP) enhances the advocacy work of Carers NSW. CRP representatives are provided with ongoing training and a support model that includes briefing and debriefing by policy staff. Carers NSW is piloting the program for one year with 13 carer representatives from a range of caring situations. This article describes Anna Maria Delloso’s experience of participating in the Carers NSW Carer Representation Program pilot.
WA Health Consumer, Carer and Community Engagement Framework
This framework was developed to assist WA Health and professionals working in the WA health system to implement meaningful and effective consumer, carer and community engagement strategies. The framework covers engagement at four levels: individual patient interaction; department, program or service level; area health level; and WA Health level. A number of tools aimed at helping services implement the framework are included.
Wanting to be Heard and Included: Carers’ Experiences of Hospitals
How included do carers feel when supporting someone while in hospital and after discharge? The growing practice to minimise hospital stays led Carers Queensland to explore carer experiences in dealing with hospital staff and managing their caring role post-discharge. This article reports the findings of a statewide study and implications for improved practices.
Pat McLean has cared for her mum, who has advanced dementia, and more recently, her husband Gordon, who at 44, had a heart attack. Short-term in duration, but long-term in impact, Pat's situation reflects a type of care that is often underestimated. Although caring is often linked with chronic or long-term situations, short-term care can be very intense, often leaving the carer with little or no support and a life of unknowns. Pat's doctorate thesis focuses on the lives of women with partners who have had a heart attack and the lifelong pressures and anxieties they face.
blueVoices - beyondbule's model of national consumer and carer participation
Presented by Bonnie Vincent at the Consumer's Reforming Health Conference 2011.
