Dundee Carers Partnership Covid-19 Engagement Findings

A report outlining the findings and recommendations from the Dundee Carers Partnership Covid-19 engagement work has now been published.

From late September to mid-November 2020, the Dundee Carers Partnership has worked together to undertake engagement with carers and the workforce supporting carers to better understand the impact of COVID-19. The final report presents the findings from the feedback gathered from the local engagement and contains a series of recommendations to ensure outcomes are met for carers in the City.

Who we heard from

The consultation involved engagement with carers, young carers and the wider workforce supporting carers

Online local survey for carers – 116 unpaid carers completed our online survey
Online survey for local workforce – 37 individuals completed our workforce survey
Carer Focus Groups – 41 carers participated in focus group discussions

Key Findings

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic:

The majority (84%) of carers reported an increase in the amount of care provide
84% reported that there had been a negative impact on their physical, mental and social wellbeing and a high number (82%) reported that they were feeling more worried and anxious about the future
67% reported financial impacts as a result of higher household expenses
63% found it difficult to balance commitments including work/study/education and school commitments
60% reported that they had felt isolated in their caring role and had limited social contact (often due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions and shielding)
48% had not been able to access support and services to help them in their caring role and day-to-day life
56% they felt proud of being a carer and that it gives them a sense of satisfaction
72% reported that they had support networks in place and people they can rely on if they needed it
66% were able to use technology to access online information/engagement activities
33% were able make a positive contribution to others, via voluntary work, helping neighbours, gardening, shopping etc

Next Steps

The Dundee Carers Partnership have started preparation work to implement improvements based on the findings and have established 7 workstreams to develop proposals with carers and stakeholders to address the series of recommendations The Dundee Carers Partnership value the contribution of all those who were involved and provided feedback in the engagement and the overall contribution made to the development of the final report document. The Dundee Carers Partnership are committed to continuing to work collaboratively with carers and stakeholders to implement the recommendations from this work to enable service improvements locally for carers and their families.

Read the full report here If you would like to read the report plus full recommendations please click here