Older families support models

Discussion
1

Hi, I am doing work on a project funded by Comic Relief aimed at giving a stronger voice to older families supporting people with learning disabilities and to press for policy change.

I would welcome knowing if there is anywhere in the UK that has written any formal policy with regard to older families( or abroad).

I’d also welcome hearing of examples of good practice in the UK that we can use in our work to press for change.

Thanks.

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2

had no idea there was a policy for older families and if there was one or a planed policy for the future I doubt it will make a difference except another box to be ticked. I think these grants and so on would be better spent on developing what is out there, such as social events and groups for the people they care for as well as giving families support on networking within the community for long term support. A good place to start is to ask families what they want so contact your uk family and carers networks. Hope that helps.

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3

I cannot help you with information about existing policies or practice but wanted to say I think this is a good area to focus on. It is evidenced that older people have different needs and family carers needs do change as they themselves get older. I feel there is a place for this aspect of caring to be explored. Good luck.

4

I’m sure you’ll be aware of work that the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities has done on this and related issues in the past, along with other organisations such as ARC. A good place to start if you haven’t seen these projects is: http://www.learningdisabilities.org.uk/our-work/family-friends-community/older-families-initiative/

5

Thanks very much for the useful links.This will be a great help to us in the work we are trying to get off the ground.

6

Hi, we were not sure if any local authority or health authority had developed a policy anywhere.We are keen to hear of examples of good practice as well and to know if is driven by policy or not.

I also agree that we are after positive outcomes that make a real difference and there is always a risk of these things being tick box exercises if we don’t hold people to account for their decision-making.

I agree that funding needs to be spent on what families really say they need and we have just held a series of meetings to hear what needs to change from their perspective at our local level and have had a meeting today with key statutory agencies about these findings.It’s a start and we’d love to hear from you all to see what has worked well in your area so we can learn from you.

Thanks for the responses so far.