THEMES
Health Systems
Carers
Hammersmith & Fulham Training Hub: scoping exercise to best identify carers
PROCESS
Scoping Exercise
Participatory Research
The Hammersmith and Fulham Training Hub (HFTH) provides support to the 28 GP practices within the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. Part of their support includes developing, training, and educating the local primary care force through innovative mechanisms and initiatives.
The Project Brief
Primary care teams in the UK are encouraged to establish protocols for identifying carers and implementing mechanisms for social care referral. Yet, in practice, only a minority of carers are identified. Without early identification, and therefore support, the situation can become unmanageable for carers, particularly for those caring for individuals with complex needs.
TFTH has commissioned us to carry out a scoping exercise to explore best approaches to identifying carers in primary care settings.
Our Approach
CSC will first carry out participatory research with key stakeholders, including unpaid carers, primary care professionals and carers centres. The interviews will cover:
barriers for carer identification;
approaches to increase the identification of carers; and
how to effectively support hidden carers once identified.
Following a thematic analysis of all the data, CSC will provide a scoping report covering barriers for carer identification, what’s working at the moment, and what more can be done. TFTH will use our insights to inform the development of future scaled initiatives.
Impact
The findings from this scoping exercise will help us make recommendations on how to design and implement one or more of the following outputs:
A screening tool to identify “hidden” carers in primary care settings— focusing on enhancing opportunistic and self-identification routes;
A referral pathway that guides primary care teams on how to connect identified carers with the right support services and resources;
Training and educational materials for primary care teams to improve their knowledge and skills in identifying and supporting hidden carers.
The project is due to be completed at the beginning of 2024.