IT Officer for London School of Osteopathy and a Carer representative for Maudsley. As you can see, I have many interests shown off my blog. I hope to keep it updated with posts and more things to come soon.
Another blog from carer activist Matthew McKenzie highlighting an opportunity of joining a research project at Kings College London.
What is the purpose of the project?
Many people with a severe mental illness (SMI) may live with or be supported by a close relative or friend, whom can often be referred to as informal carers.
We know that caring for a relative with lived experience of SMI is an important and valued role that can be associated with many rewarding and positive experiences. We also know, however, that it can be associated with different challenges for which some can include exposure to aggression from their relative.
The purpose of the project is to trial a new group training programme for informal carers who have had times in their relationship when they have been exposed to aggression from the person they care for with SMI.
The researcher is inviting informal carers in SMI who have been exposed to aggression in their caregiving relationship, from the person they provide care for.
If you are happy to take part and the research team have answered any questions you have, you will be given an information sheet to keep and asked to sign a consent form.
Here is a brief outline of what you can expect from the group training:
An opportunity to meet other carers with similar experiences
Understanding of severe mental illness
Discussing communication skills
Discussing problem-solving and de-escalation skills
Discussing of strategies to promote positive wellbeing, support, and safety
Discussing of helpful resources and strategies to access support
If you have any questions or require more information about this study, please contact the researcher using the following contact details:
Lee Zi Min Beatrice, Clinical Psychologist in Training, ASB, Institute of Psychiatry, 4 Windsor Walk, London, SE5 8AZ
Welcome to another blog from carer activist Matthew McKenzie. I raise awareness of unpaid carers and run monthly groups aimed at those caring for someone suffering mental illness. I also starting to run groups for those caring for someone with cancer. Did you know I am also an NHS Citizen?
Health is so important to us, especially when you are caring for the health and wellbeing of your loved one or the person you are caring for. If anything goes wrong when booking appoinments, operations or navigating the health system then the affect can be life changing. NHS has provided free healthcare for around 75 years and long may that continue, but as this blog will raise there is a big ask aimed at carers and those they care for.
NHS England a cherished organisation for the people.
NHS England was the envy of the world. A great idea put into practice. Free healthcare for all, if you can or cannot afford it. A step forward for a society that values its people. It all starts with people, because people and communities are important to the health service.
The NHS is still loved by people, but the challenges it faces will test the patience of many. With long queues and ever changing systems. The NHS is asking for people to help drive the health service through tough waters.
What the NHS has gone through
The NHS has to own up. There are things within its control that could have made life easier for carers and the ‘cared for’. There were some decisions that took too long. Some projects that cost too much, some plans that never evolved. The NHS unfortunately also struggled with things outside its control as with the pandemic, funding issues, under valued staff and complicated structures getting outside its control.
All the above has led people to feel forgotten. The users of the NHS are feeling distant because their health is on the line. As a carer I often worry if my ‘cared for’ health might worsen. I worry they would have to join the endless queue where there is a gamble for their own health.
Yet, I still love the NHS. It is hard to imagine that free healthcare will turn into healthcare for those who can afford it.
Its not enough to love the NHS
As the title says. It is not enough to love the NHS. We are at the crossroads. I as an NHS Citizen ask carers to continue ti focus on what the NHS is doing. This means Nationally and locally. Not only is the ‘cared for’ health at stake, but our own health as a carer. The carer’s health is at risk, the carer identity can be missing. With our own worries, wellbeing and the risk we may fall unwell ourselves. The question asked is “how can you care for someone else, if your health causes you to give up caring?”.
We now need to take our cause to the next level and question again how the NHS serves us. There will be drives and targets to drive down waiting times for the NHS. The government and the NHS have to act, because people should not be made to suffer this way. The health services needs our help. We need to feedback what we feel is working and also feedback does not work.
This might sound boring and exhausting, you might even think that as a carer, you have heard all this before.
Yet the NHS is for you. As a carer, you should be counted!! Without unpaid carers, the NHS will sink into the abyss and now the NHS is depending on informal carers to provide quality of unpaid care.
The NHS will work to help identify, support and work with carers. The NHS cannot do this without input.
Help drive it
The NHS is huge. I am not kidding. You know the NHS has grown to be a complicated structure, because the populations needs have become complicated. We are living longer, this is part of the NHS successes. However the complexities of the population comes at a cost. Loving your health service is not enough. Hold the NHS to account, question what providers are doing. If they do not engage with carers, then unpaid carers need to engage with the NHS.
As carers we have the right to help drive the NHS. The health service is ours, but not by right and certainly not by an ideal. We have to work for the health service to work for us.
I will not lie. The keyword is “work” and this will be hard work.
Feedback
The most simple way to get involved in shaping and driving the NHS is to feedback. Do not be silent and cope as a carer. Tell the health service what affects you. Let the NHS know that as a carer, you should be counted.
You should not be ignored, because you want to see the best support for your ‘loved one’. If you are supported to care, then in turn this supports the NHS.
What are your providers up to?
There will be new ideas, new projects and new ways of engagement. Most of all there will be new ways of providing a service. I do not have the answers, all I know is that waiting lists have to be driven down to acceptable levels. Too long people have suffered waiting for operations.
Too long carers have been missed out and expected to get on with it. What are your Integrated Care Boards up to? Where is that money being spent? As a carer, do you know something that could help the community of unpaid carers? Its about engagement and it is also about holding to account. We need to work together.
It starts with you because
It starts with you because you are a citizen. It starts with you because as a person it is your right to healthcare. It is also your right to healthcare for your ‘cared for’. As a carer, you have those ideas that can help the NHS.
You have seen how healthcare supports and treats you and the person you care for. We love the NHS and we only ask the NHS to care for us. However, It is not enough to love the NHS, it is now time to value the NHS. It is time to fight for it.
I cannot promise the outcome, things will change for the better and some things will be challenging. Still, as a carer activist, I ask carers to stand up and be counted.
Hello fellow carers, another blog from carer activist Matthew McKenzie. A lot of my groups focus on those caring for someone with mental ill health or caring for someone going through the stages of cancer. As you probably know, caring for someone should be a role that we look towards. This does come with challenges, but most carers can even expect to go through tough times. These challenges could mean adapting to a role that could be isolating, difficult to understand and emotionally as well as physically taxing.
Being an unpaid carer means you doing what you do because you love and care for the persons health and wellbeing. It is unfortunate that the cost of living has made the unpaid caring role an increasing challenge. With reports from National carer organisations like Carers Trust and Carers UK, the cost of living has pushed carers towards a more vulnerable position. Struggling financially to make ends meet could be the last straw that breaks the back of many carers.
We all know the sad desperate story. We want a society that emphasis the importance of caring for one another. It should not be left to someone else. Health and social care are under resourced and are under increased pressure, this means the role of the carer is a crucial cog in the wheel. The NHS cannot expect to care for us all and we will have to face the fact that carers will have to be supported as a vital part of the health and social care system.
Awareness of the carer role is not enough as more discussion, debate and finally action should be taken up at the highest level. A lot of the awareness is down to education. As in educating others that they should not have to cope in caring for a difficult role. There needs to be education and research on what could make life easier for carers. Policies will need careful consideration to serve the ever increasing society of carers.
Fortunately we have a high quality platform looking to provide a debate on this issue.
Public Policy Exchange produces and delivers high quality conferences and interactive seminars which provide an invaluable interface for policy discussion, debate and networking.
Their speakers are unrivalled in calibre, ranging from Government Ministers and Senior Whitehall Officials to leading Local Authority figures and Voluntary Sector representatives.
For August the 17th they have an exciting event titled “Informal Carers: Providing Critical Support to Carers During a Cost-of-Living Crisis and Beyond”.
There will be the following speakers, where some are from my carers network
Key Speakers
Wendy Chamberlain MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Work and Pensions & Sponsor of the Carer’s Leave Bill, now the Carer’s Leave Act 2023
Krista Sharp, Chief Executive of MYTIME Young Carers
Professor Michele Peters, Associate Professor at the Health Services Research Unit, University of Oxford (Event Chair)
Dr Sally Wilson, Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES)
Dr Siobhan O’Dwyer, Associate Professor in Adult Social Care at the University of Birmingham
Richard Meade, Director of Carers Scotland and Northern Ireland
Zarina Camal, Carer
Faith Smith, Carer
With such a high range of speakers, it is a shame I cannot be present to hear thoughts and views that affect the caring role. So I am hoping those in attendance feedback to our carer network. I am glad that those who are to present at the webinar speak highly of the caring role.
If you want to hear more about this important debate affecting unpaid carers. See the link below.
Welcome to another blog post by Matthew McKenzie promoting research from psychiatry and psychology.
There is new research taking place at the institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. They are working on a new way of Virtual training for unpaid mental health carers.
People with lived experiences of mental health problems, such as psychosis, can have a range of experiences that might include worrying or unusual beliefs about other people, themselves and events. These experiences can sometimes influence their styles of communication with other people, including close friends and relatives. Families and friends (sometimes collectively described as carers) are an important source of support to people living with psychosis. This caring role can be challenging, especially when communication might feel confusing and difficult. As such, carers understandably often want their own help on how best to provide support particularly in terms of identifying helpful communication styles.
In the study the IOPPN will look at whether it is possible to use a new virtual reality (VR) training programme designed specifically for carers of people with lived experiences of psychosis. By carrying out a smaller study, the research will want to see if a larger study would work in the future. The training will aim to guide a carer’s development and use of helpful communication styles with their relative with psychosis.
For more details see poster below.
If interested please contact
Laurence Rogers (Trainee Clinical Psychologist; Laurence.p.rogers@kcl.ac.uk) Department of Psychology, King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience De Crespigny Park Denmark Hill London SE5 8A
Caring for a loved one with cancer? The university of East London study offers 4 free (online) hours of coaching in exchange for a 1 hour interview.
The study aims to support carers of cancer patients through coaching conversations, and is part of a Master’s dissertation investigating the wellbeing effects of coaching. The research has been ethically approved by University of east london’s Psychology Ethics Committee.
You’ll be asked to participate for around 5 ½ hours of your time, and the sessions can be slotted around your availability. The coaching is confidential.
To book a 30 minute consultation to see if this is right for you, contact Jo at u2097099@uel.ac.uk
Welcome to another carer blogpost by carer activist and chair of Carers Uk ethnic advisory group. I have been meaning to blog about the new State of Caring survey, but before I do. I want to give a little introduction to Carers UK. If you are new to the caring role as in caring for someone unpaid like a family member or friend, then Carers UK can help with advice and information.
Carers UK is a national membership charity for carers, Carers UK is both a supportive community and a movement for change. Still, with over 5 to 6 million carers in the UK, it is hard to know the challenges carers face. This is why Carers UK launches its “State of Caring” survey to hear what carers face.
I suspect I can hear groans and moans from carers thinking “Oh no! Not another survey!”. However hold for just a moment. The UK has been hit with a cost of living crisis, recovering from a pandemic it was not fully prepared for. This in turn has led to an impact on the most vulnerable where carers are isolated and services are struggling. Despite health and social care resources facing challenges, there have been new problems affecting carers, but without carers feeding back then it is difficult for Carers UK to lobby.
Some people tend to think they are not carers and that is fine. I know some out there feel they are just doing their duty caring for someone affected by long term illness. Some people provide care out of love and concern. These reasons are all important, but is it fair that people have to struggle when there is help out there? Especially being identified as a carer and having that extra useful carer awareness.
Providing unpaid care can be a most isolating and private affair, but should it be so private that no one knows when that carer of the person being cared for is suffering needlessly?
I ask carers especially those from minority groups to take just a few minutes to fill in the “State of Caring” Survey. The more information provided, the more carers do not have to cope alone. You might feel you will not get anything out of it, but letting those who make important decisions regarding the nation should be aware that carers need that extra support.
You can access the State of Caring survey in the link below
Welcome back to another blog by carer activist Matthew McKenzie. I run many groups aimed at those caring for someone unpaid. They could be caring for someone suffering mental illness or caring for someone affected by cancer. One of the groups I run is the Joint Southwark & Lambeth mental health carers forum.
So I was delighted to attend a fun filled community event over in Lambeth.
The weather was perfect for the health event. The event focused on the Lambeth community and beyond. It was a way to bring the community together.
We all have something in common, just as we all have importance in health and wellbeing. So it was a fun afternoon where everyone could come together and learn what the borough of Lambeth if providing for the community.
The event was called “Thriving Vassall and Coldharbour Health Day”. It took place over at Wyck Gardens on the 21 July 2023 from 3pm to 7pm.
When I attended the wellbeing festival, the first thing I noticed was how everyone was enjoying themselves. There was no fussing or fighting, people were relaxing, enjoying the music, learning about health and eating the food provided.
I met up and chatted with Karen Hooper who is a carer and does so much to promote community links in Lambeth.
I then spoke to stall holders at Age UK Lambeth, Disability UK Lambeth, Kooth stall, SHARP Gallery and more.
The Wellbeing Festival provided fun for all the family. Workshops and activities to help attendees stay fit and healthy. It was great to see a focus on young people’s mental health from the Kooth stall.
We also had stalls from South London & Maudsley regarding mental wellbeing services.
Involvement and providing feedback on health services is so important. So it was great to see Lambeth Healthwatch giving advice and information at their stall.
I noticed there was Jewellery Making and Face painting for children attending as it is great for young people to get creative. There was also a bouncy castle.
There were other Stall holders including Lambeth Childhood, Active Lambeth, Primary Care Network engagement (especially from the social perscribers). We also had stall information from Moasaic Club House, Certitude, Loughborough Farm, Buzwakk Recording Studio, Big Kid Foundation, Repowering London and Lambeth Libraries.
We also had some great singing performances on the day.
With so much bringing the community together, I enjoyed my visit to the Health and Wellbeing day, everyone was friendly and many wanted to chat about their services to help the community.
A big thank you to the main organisers Anthea, at Thriving Vassall & Coldhabour (Fiveways), Surjit from Ecosystem Coldharbour and Kamika from Chips and to everyone who came to the event.
This blog post is from carer activist and author Matthew McKenzie. I am involved in many things and often campaign and raise awareness of those caring for someone with mental illness or cancer. One of groups I run focuses on Carers Trust Triange of Care membership updates.
It is important families, friends who are unpaid carers who care for someone using mental health services be kept in the loop. It is even more important that carers be involved in shaping triangle of care at their local mental health service. All too often carers can be seen as a hidden resource, perhaps seen as someone behind the scenes quietly getting on with it.
Carers should not be hidden, it is important to know what your organisation is doing to improve the lives of unpaid mental health carers.
Our next triangle of care community meeting will be on July 31st. See poster below.
Welcome back to another blog post by carer activist Matthew McKenzie. Quick question. Do you know about Allied Health Professions?
Well, allied Health professionals work to provide the community with the best support and health benefits using their skills and expertise.
Allied Health professionals work in many different settings and they do not always have to be based in hospitals. There are around 14 all doing their best to serve the community.
Art therapists Dramatherapists Music therapists Podiatrists Dietitians Occupational therapists Operating department practitioners Orthoptists Osteopaths Paramedics Physiotherapists Prosthetists and orthotists Radiographers Speech and language therapists
Still, serving the community is not enough. It is about including the community and putting people first. This is done through co-production, leadership, innovation and bringing out the best in the AHP community. The health of the community is a challenge if the health of the environment suffers, so it is important to prepare for a greener future and cleaner future.
The Allied Health Professions have set their strategy for england, which you can view below.
There also is a new video to promote why AHPs should continuously improve their contribution to high-quality health and care services.
As a carer activist, I know full well that high quality care can have a positive impact. We all have a part to play, just as we all want healthier lives. Users of health services want their views taken into account and this can lead to a better strategy.
A Caring Mind 