IMPACT Local Networks met across the four nations of the UK to discuss how people can find the support they need from adult social care through an approach that promotes exchanging knowledge, learning together and supporting each other in local development work to create change.
Each Local Network met four times with the goal of creating an ‘action plan’ for change that drew on what they had learnt from:
- The evidence review IMPACT provided in their first meeting
- Evidence from people with lived experience of working in adult social care (including care workers; social workers; service providers; advocacy and support groups and commissioners)
- Evidence from people with lived experience of disability and/or learning disabilities and carers.
IMPACT’s ethos values all of these types of evidence equally, and aims to understand the barriers to putting evidence into practice to make positive change, so we can truly make an impact through our work as a centre and ensure a diverse range of voices are heard and listened to.
From the problem areas identified in the IMPACT Network process, Reading Borough Council’s Network focused on improving information access, and hospital discharge support for carers. All members of the Reading Borough Council group agreed that ‘transition often involves emotion’ and often ‘more than one person is affected’. Some of the definitions were: ‘changes from one thing to another’, ‘a change of life in a positive way’.
The Network considered what could be done to promote activities in the council such as local news, community radio, the RBC website and utilising the carers steering group. Network members have an ongoing input into discussions within RBC’s Carers Steering Group, building on the work started during the IMPACT Network.
Reading Borough Council are creating information packs for carers which has been made with members of the Network and local partners from the hospital, hospice and others. The information pack will include information for different types of carers ranging from young carers to end of life with tailored information for each group. The hope is that these documents will help alleviate the stress associated with trying to get information in various different places by consolidating it together. They plan to update the pack regularly to ensure the information is up to date.
This video is an example of co-production. It was co-produced between Reading Borough Council staff, students at the University of Reading and unpaid carers who live in Reading to raise awareness of the experiences of carers in Reading.
Reading Council added sections to their website for coproduction and a sign up call for people with lived experience to get involved with the council.