Exploring the use of images to support short break conversations with unpaid carers

Purpose: Short breaks enable unpaid carers of all ages to have a life alongside caring, supporting their physical and emotional wellbeing. In the United Kingdom, short breaks are usually explored during a Carers Assessment. The conversations underpinning these assessments require considerable skill and presently there are few tools to support the exploration of short break needs, desired outcomes, and options. Images are used in other conversations to enhance communication, help people consider options and broaden thinking. We explored whether and how stakeholders thought images might support short break conversations. Approach: To improve access to meaningful short breaks, we need to be guided by the insights of unpaid carers, practitioners, commissioners, and policy makers. We hosted two online involvement events, designed to facilitate the exchange of perspectives and ideas amongst these diverse stakeholders. The events explored the acceptability, facilitators, and challenges of using images to enhance unpaid carer short break conversations. Findings: The online events were attended by 47 short break stakeholders. These stakeholders saw merit in using images to support short break conversations. They identified several facilitators and challenges to introducing images into practice. The paper highlights how this learning can inform future research and practice development. Originality: Supporting the wellbeing of older unpaid carers is a pertinent concern as the number of older unpaid carers continues to grow. This paper reports on how stakeholders have informed the earliest stages of practice and research development in a relevant area and provides a model of involvement that others can emulate

Opportunities to co-create and deliver short breaks: integrating research and practice

There are exciting opportunities to co-create and deliver short breaks for carers underpinned by a robust research evidence base. This poster presentation describes a UK-wide Research and Practice Development Group recently established to take forward research and practice on meaningful short breaks for carers, i.e. short breaks that promote interdependent caring relationships and benefit both carers and people with complex support needs. Its development follows discussions at the International Short Breaks Association Conference in Edinburgh 2016, which identified the need to establish an effective UK-wide approach to developing and coordinating research and sharing knowledge. Our presentation explores how the Group shall support the development of national and international research collaborations and opportunities for knowledge exchange. Working across a range of academic disciplines and practice settings, the Group shall: 1. Build research capacity and support a culture of research excellence to address gaps in the evidence base relating to meaningful short breaks. 2. Facilitate knowledge exchange between academia, policy and practice in ways that encourage innovations in policy and practice development. A strong evidence base is required to understand the role of meaningful short breaks in supporting inter-dependent caring relationships and carer resilience

Cultural and societal motivations for being informal caregivers: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis

Informal caregiving constitutes the mainstay of a society's care supply. Motivations for caring and continuing to provide care are crucial to understanding the nature of caregiver experiences and their relationship with the person/people they support. This systematic review of qualitative evidence examines determinants of motivations and willingness to provide informal care. One hundred and five qualitative studies published before August 2019 and fitting the inclusion criteria were identified, 84 of them pertaining to cultural and societal motivations for caregiving. Grounded theory-based, thematic synthesis was conducted. Cultural and societal factors strongly underpinned motivations and willingness for informal caregiving. The main cultural motives for caregiving were cultural values and beliefs encompassing the ethnocultural context of the caregiving role, culture-specific norms, cultural and spiritual beliefs, illness beliefs and socialisation. Societal norms and perceived expectations, such as gendered roles, norms and expectations of caregiving, and perceptions of health and social care services further shaped caregiver motivations and willingness to provide care. These meta-synthesis findings contribute towards novel understandings about the cultural and societal aspects shaping informal care provision. These findings bear important implications for theory, research, policy and practice; all of which contributing to the issue of the sustainability of informal care from a 'macro' perspective

Making personalised short breaks meaningful: a future research agenda to connect academia, policy and practice

Purpose: There is a growing policy impetus to promote carer well-being through the provision of personalised short breaks. However, understanding of what makes for a successful personalised short break is limited. This paper aims to identify key evidence gaps and considers how these could be addressed. Design/methodology/approach: A scoping review mapping the evidence base relevant to respite and short breaks for carers for older people, including those living with dementia, was completed. National and international literature published from 2000 onwards was reviewed. The scoping review focused on well-being outcomes, identified by previous research, as being important to carers. Findings: Most studies investigating the outcomes of short breaks for carers supporting older people focus on traditional day and residential respite care. Although there have been developments in more personalised break options for carers, research exploring their impact is scarce. There is limited knowledge about how these personalised breaks might support carers to realise important outcomes, including carer health and well-being; a life alongside caring; positive caregiving relationships; choices in caring; and satisfaction in caring. Three priority lines of inquiry to shape a future research agenda are identified: understanding what matters – evidencing personalised short break needs and intended outcomes; capturing what matters – outcomes from personalised short breaks; and commissioning, delivering and scaling up personalised short breaks provision to reflect what matters. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the development of an outcome-focused research agenda on personalised short breaks