Welcome to this video about the Care Act
duties in relation to the provision of information and advice please note
that we have other videos about this topic on the SCIE website alongside
other resources and a handout with key messages and reflective questions to
support embedding your learning my name is Paula and with me today is Kevin hello Kevin
so duty in relation to information and advice is that the local authority must
provide and establish a system for providing information and advice in relation to the care
and support for adults and support for carers what does this mean to you Kevin
thanks for that well for me it means is that you need the services you need the services
in place we did a market position statement as they call it was to check in to see what
what carers and service users needed and to make sure that those are in place so I think that's
what it means to me first and foremost and it and it also means that it is for everybody
that is for people who are eligible for support but it's also for the general
public as well and it seems like it's quite often forgotten that those people that do have
financial security do you have access to resources like this we're still responsible for making sure
that they have the information advice they need to make good decisions absolutely yeah
you're right in that this is a general duty so it's not a duty that is just applicable
to an individual who has an appearance of need or assessed needs for care and support or support if
you are an unpaid carer it's a responsibility to make information and advice available to anybody
within the local authority area you did mention Kevin that it's important around being available
so that individuals have choice and control do you think there's any other reasons why it's important
that we have a good provision of information and then that resource available so that people can
get advice I don't believe in sort of independence as such but you know we're all interdependent but
there is definitely a need that people are able to make and choose and find things that they want
to do for themselves without being told what to do in that and so it's a and of course it means
that that advice has to be accessible for whatever needs they be whether it be on the the internet or
at the end of the telephone line or some written material and of course written material in the
language or the the style that they they want to receive that within and and of course sometimes
they really just need a person somebody to talk to that they can actually meet and somebody may
come and visit them if that's what they require so I think that's what it means to me is that it is
accessible to all and in a format that works for them and also one of the big problems certainly
as a carer in crisis it was information overload we would get a pile of leaflets a pile of ideas
and a pile of things and well through nine years after my mum died then I threw out a box full of
these things literally a box full of these things which we'd never even open yeah absolutely so with
that we need to be making us you know as a social care practitioner we need to be making sure that
information that we provide to individuals that we support is relevant and it's appropriate and
proportionate to your situation is that that right yes absolutely and proportionate also means timely
doesn't it when when you actually need it and when you when you're in a place to do something with it
yeah as well and that's been important absolutely and it's very important for any social care
practitioner to check in with the individual that is being provided that information to see whether
they need anything further sorry so it's not good enough to just give the information and
then walk away we need to be able to check that the individual can act on that information or
if some further support is required did you find that happened in your experience Kevin?
no no basically it was only because we kept engaged you know we would go to carer support
groups or we would do other things that we get another the latest update version of that
literature in that way so the yeah it's also that the the people that are actually providing the
information mustn't assume what that person needs or doesn't need it you know you real it is about I
mean 99 per cent of it is about listening to find out where that person is what their motivation
might be to actually go away and actually do something with that information as well and
you know people people don't always tell the lie don't tell the truth rather that you know you ask
them what do they need or what do they want and they'll tell you something they might it's only
when you've actually built that trust with them will they really tell you what they need so maybe
the second third time maybe even more before you actually they will actually really share what it
is they're really worried about especially when it comes to you know their own circumstances or
the circumstances of the person they care for yeah absolutely and that's an important thing
for myself as a social care practitioner to remember that because somebody that I'm working
with might not be open to that conversation at the you know the point that I started that
doesn't mean that they won't in the future and so we do need to keep putting in that effort and
that trying to establish the relationship so that we can understand what's important to the person
and we can ensure that we're providing acceptable levels of information advice and guidance moving
forward so if I could share an example when my mother died you know I knew that our local
carers charity provided bereavement services and I asked him whether he was interested whether my
dad was interested in him he said no not really I said well shall I just contact them and get them
to give you a call which they did and he spoke to them and he had an enjoyable conversation and
they left and at the end of they said well no I don't he said I don't really want it I don't need
anything and the guy and the person said well can we call you back in I think it was three months
and he called him back in three months and Dad shared something with the person I think was a
man shared with the person something he hadn't said to any of us during those three months
so you know it is a you know timing is everything timing is a thank you
information and advice is also fundamental not only for the local authority as the
organisation under the umbrella of adult social care to providing information to the population
information and advice is also fundamental when social care practitioners are working
with individuals in some of the more specific duties that they may have so for example that
might be an assessment of need for care and support or support for an unpaid carer it
might be a safeguarding inquiry so to ensure that social care practice is aligned to the
key principles of the Care Act such as choice and control or strengths-based approach and of course
the duty to promote individual wellbeing the provision of information and advice is
fundamental so that the person is aware of the options and opportunities available to
them so that they can consider with support from a social care practitioner or somebody
that they would choose for themselves a family member a friend for example to look at the pros
and cons and to be able to think about the shape that their journey would like to you know what
they would like their journey to take moving forward and the provision of information and
advice also provides and promotes the opportunity to ensure that us as social care practitioners are
doing everything that we can to enable that individual that we're working with to lead
the process okay to to lead the decision-making process as much as possible so on that basis the
some of us have been around a little while in that respect you know the law changes the Care Act come
in and things like things like that who can and who can't claim carers allowance or get a personal
budget and things like that have changed in my lifetime in that way and there is a definitely a
need also to check that people are aware to aware of the latest legislation because you know well
when I cared for my mum I wasn't allowed to so now I'm sure I can't now when I'm caring for my
spouse you know a partner in that way so it's very important to check in to make sure that the people
are aware of what's the up-to-date and the options as you said is what you you know the options are
and of course one of the big options for people is that they they don't have to carry on caring
and they can increase or they can reduce the amount of caring they want to do in that way so
yeah things are changing quite rapidly for the good I believe and that people are not
always aware of that yeah absolutely and so that information needs to be available in an
accessible format like you mentioned earlier it's not acceptable for that information to just be on
a website because we will have people within our communities with different communication styles
and preferences so it's really important that that fact-based that objective information is available
in terms of what a person's options are as a an individual living with needs for care and support
or an unpaid carer you know what does it mean to have an assessment of need what if I'm determined
to have eligible needs what does that mean what choice and control do I have in terms of what any
future care and support plan or support plan for an unpaid carer might look like so just going to
the point that you made there and Kevin about carers benefits and entitlement to access that
now that isn't something that the local authority has a responsibility to do that is in relation to
Department of Work and Pensions but as part of a conversation with you a social care practitioner
would have a conversation for example to say you're providing more than 35 hours of support at
the moment are you aware that that might open up a benefit that you can claim so things can perhaps
feel a little bit more financially stable moving forward so it's not a duty of the local authority
but it is a duty of the local authority to provide information which will then further have regards
to kind of improving and maintaining a person's sense of wellbeing so on that basis of as you say
some of my mother was sleeping downstairs we got a discount well now on our on our council
tax because we basically lost the I mean the downstairs ended up being a bedroom basic and a
lounge and everything else so so that was you know some of these sort of things like you're talking
about which you know we do need to be aware of and where to go for those things and actually
get access to we also wanted a the facilities grant to be applied for us there as well which
was it was an interesting challenge and a lot of these processes can take a long time as well and
often you can find that you you're not eligible which is a real shame in many ways but mainly
it's a shame in that time has been lost that time has been lost so I think there is a need to to be
a realistic about how long something it will take and also not so much deciding whether you will or
you won't but you know if you won't what would you do about it in that way and what can you
do now because there are often lots of things we can do now so it's again proportionate and timely
timely is something I really want to emphasise here because I've known people wait a long time
and and there hasn't been anything available things like my mother became immobile over the age
of 60 which means that she wasn't eligible for any sort of mobility grant whatever the right word is
and we never managed to get the mobility vehicle for her because they were just so
it was so difficult to to arrange one to sort one out so there's help needed in those circumstances
okay so thinking about that then what would have what would have helped you and your mum at that
point in terms of information and advice so that it wouldn't have felt so traumatic
so really it's really when she lost her mobility and we won't go into why that was but when she
lost her mobility for my dad and I it was that's the end of holidays that's the end of going out
that's the end of everything basically she's now because we hadn't had any um experience we'd had
people that had shuffled around a bit but nobody that actually had required a wheelchair and so I
think when when these sorts of regressions happen people need to discuss it people need to have that
information that advice another friend his mother had a stroke she lost her eyesight she was um she
went home without any information as how to you know make life accessible really she was literally
from I understand it taken home and to get on with whatever she needed to do when she got home
so I think this is a place that where information advice is needed when when when your circumstances
change so drastically like that do can you support that person with all the information they need and
more as we've said about that it's not just about the leaflet whatever it is to do that so I think
it yeah I think it's that that recognising that people do not have this knowledge or understanding
when these horrific actually horrific things happen in their lives yeah most definitely
and I think it's important to note as well that while the responsibility or the duty lies with the
local authority it's not expected that the local authority provides all of that but we need to be
having those relationships with other partners and providers of support so that we're sharing that
information and making it accessible so we can signposts for example to wheelchair services or
whatever it is that's needed so that relationship that integration cooperation and partnership
between all of the services is is absolutely crucial as well to enable us to make sure that
we've got a good information and advice service to people that require it and as you as you said
earlier signposting is not enough it's making sure that the people have actually engaged received
whatever it was that you recommended or offered or shown and they decided they were going to do so
yeah thank you for listening remember to check further resources and other videos
on this and other themes at SCIE website thank you