Here is the latest carer and mental health news for February by carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie.

February 2024 Carer and Mental Health news <- Read more news items here.

For the February edition on unpaid caring and mental health we have the following news items.

Carer Videos

1. Irish in Britian – Carers matter: Thoughtful Thursday
2. The Carers Challenge 2023: Launched by ADASS President, Beverley Tarka
3. Carers UK – Tips and guidance for carers on residential care
4. Channel 4 – ‘Carers are just abandoned’: Demand for council respite care soars as funding squeezed

Latest Carer News

1. Keep carers in work to save £6bn, Government urged
2. Hospital discharge and community support latest guidance – DHSC
3. Lindsey Burrow: Who Cares For Our Carers?
4. Charities must be ready for delays, risks and ‘manufactured culture wars’ ahead of election
5. Young carers don’t live in any particular postcode or come from any particular type of family – neither do poets
6. Esports students at East Sussex college raise funds and awareness for local young carers
7. Carers Week 2024 is ‘putting carers on the map’
8. Dorset carers encouraged to get local discount card
9. Making life better for Carers, how a Carers ID card can help

National Organisation updates

1. Fair Futures For Young Carers: Young Carers Action Day 2024 Theme – Carers Trust
2. A carer’s guide to preparedness – Mobilise
3. Find your local Healthwatch – Healthwatch England
4. About OneLondon – London Care Record data focus
5. Social Prescribing Information Sheet for Local Carer Organisations
6. Join Carers UK as a member
7. Give feedback on care – CQC

Carer Research Papers

1. Unpaid Care Policies in the UK policy briefing – Professor Liz Lloyd 
2. Catching the threads: caregiving in Alzheimer’s disease – Elizabeth Kuipers
3. A qualitative exploration of the barriers and enablers to supporting informal and familial carers within community pharmacies

AHPs news updates

1. Swallowing Awareness Day 2024 – RCSLT
2. Share your views on our Strategic Plan towards 2030 – Gosc
3. Episode three of our Trauma series – College of Paramedics 
4. Six allied health professions have come together to launch #PrescribingNow 
5. Fluid (water and drinks) and hydration – BDA

Cancer Awareness updates

1. UK cancer treatment falls behind other countries
2. Ask the expert: Living with lymphoma
3. Ultra-processed food raises risk of cancer and heart disease, review finds
4. Factors Associated With Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer Outcomes