Introduction

Introduction

In Scotland there are around 788,000 people providing care to family or friends. One in seven carers are juggling their caring roles with an active working life. A Carers Scotland survey in 2017 suggests that more than 4 out of 10 carers (43%) give up work to care. Some carers may consider re-entering the workforce when their caring role changes or comes to an end.

Currently, three in five people are expected to care for someone at some point in their lives. A significant increase in the number of carers is forecast, due to Scotland’s ageing population, and this will have implications for employers, managers and policy makers.

The Scottish Government has made clear its commitment to supporting carers’ health and well-being. The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, which came into force on 1 April 2018, aims to support carers' health and wellbeing and help make caring more sustainable. The Act puts in place measures to help people continue to care, for as long as they choose, in better health and to have a life alongside caring. This includes being able to enjoy a working life alongside their caring role.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and the Scottish Social Services (SSSC) have developed Core Principles for Working with Carers and Young Carers to inform the practice of health, social services and others with a role in identifying and supporting carers, including managers and policy makers. The Scottish Government is also working with Carers Scotland to deliver a Carer Positive award for employers who support carers in their workforce.

The aim of the original Caring Counts course is to get carers thinking about themselves, who they are, where they are now, what they want to do in their present situation and how they can work towards doing what it is they want in the future. The focus is on identification of skills, qualities and attributes developed within a caring role and what carers have to say about their diverse learning needs.

Thinking about what you really want to do in this way, and finding out how to make it happen, can really change your life. This is true for anyone.

Caring Counts: a self-reflection and planning course for carers was produced by The Open University in Scotland, with and for carers, in collaboration with the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance, together with individual carers and carer centres.

This course has been redeveloped in collaboration with the Equal Partners in Care project (Scottish Social Services Council and NHS Education for Scotland) and with Carers Scotland, drawing on the experience of a range of employers, to create Caring Counts in the Workplace. This new course reveals the reflections and experiences of participating carers, together with case studies and examples of employers who support carers in the workplace.

Reflection is a core element within the course: you’ll be able to share in the experience of carers from a wide range of backgrounds as they reflect on the impact of their caring roles. As you work through the course you will be invited to think about their reflections and circumstances and, in turn, reflect on your own experience and role as a manager or policy maker, colleague or mentor.

Caring Counts in the Workplace addresses some questions you may have about the challenges faced by the carers in your workforce, as they juggle their caring role with other aspects of their life, including work, study and leisure time. (You might even share some of these experiences yourself if you also have a caring role.)

By working through Caring Counts in the Workplace you’ll consider the implications for employees who have caring responsibilities. You’ll be invited to reflect on the implications for your own practice, for example your role in identifying and supporting carers in your workforce. You’ll complete the course by creating an action plan to develop your own practice, together with recommendations to influence policy and practice at a strategic level within your organisation.

The course will also help you to prepare for the Carer Positive award, if you are interested in applying for this, and to meet Level 3 of the EPiC core principles for working with carers and young carers.

Watch the short film ‘Caring Roles and Learning Lives’ to hear why reflection is valuable in terms of helping to recognise skills, qualities and attributes developed in a caring role. You will hear too about the importance of ‘me time’, which is not just about a break from caring responsibilities but also about taking up opportunities for personal development, including employment.

Download this video clip.Video player: caring_roles_and_learning_lives.mp4

Show transcript|Hide transcript

Transcript

Louise Morgan, Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance

When someone becomes a carer, it may not be obvious to them and they may find themselves going down into the depths, before actually realising they’re a carer and that they are entitled to some kind of support. So that what we need to do with our support for carers is to help them make that experience the best that it possibly can be.

Jade, carer

I didn’t really realise I was a carer, I just kinda seen it as life. I’d seen a leaflet about young carers and I was like oh that sounds like a couple of people in my work. And I was reading it a bit more thoroughly and I was like, wait that actually sounds like me as well.

Dean, carer

I never ever labelled myself as that, it was almost, I wouldn’t say expected, I would honestly say that yeah – it’s expected. But it’s no something that I need to even think about, it’s just, he needs looking after, I’ll help him.

Emma Azzopardi, Carers Link East Dunbartonshire

A lot of them have been caring for whoever it is, whether it’s a family member or a friend for quite a number of years, and they might have been doing it since they were 7 years old. And to them it’s just the normal thing. They don’t refer to themselves as carers – they’re just doing what they would do for the person they love.

Sarah Burton, The Open University in Scotland

The experience we’ve had talking to carers is that just simply taking the time to sit back and reflect on what they’ve been doing can have a very positive effect on their confidence and self-esteem. Just sitting and naming and describing the achievements they’ve had in, just in, their caring role and getting through. That really makes them feel proud of what they’ve achieved and that gives them the sense of confidence to move on and make other decisions in their lives.

Lindsay Hewitt, The Open University in Scotland

The aim of this free online resource is to get people thinking about themselves, and their skills and abilities and qualities and thinking about where they are now.

Lesley, carer

I think I definitely became more confident after I did the OU course and the Reflections Toolkit. Confident enough that I could do the part-time studying and I just felt that it was something that I actually could do and that I could fit it in.

Katrina, carer

Well it’s two years on from that day and it’s a different, I’m living a different life. It’s almost unbelievable. I look back to two years ago and I can’t believe that I am where I am today. I never thought I’d see this day again.

Gavin Patterson, Renfrewshire Carers Centre

One of the things we look at in terms of reflection is the skills. What skills and attributes do they have. Where have they got those skills and attributes from. And generally it’s quite surprising for them because they tend to find that they have much more skills and attributes than they thought they did through their caring role.

Louise Morgan, Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance

It’s about making sure that carers can look back. What have they done? What have they learned? What skills have they developed from being a carer? And making sure that they’re aware of them and they’re able to sell that perhaps to an employer or to take them on into university or a college course.

End transcript

Download

 

In the following sessions carers living in Scotland tell us about their experiences and how reflection has helped them. While some aspects of their stories and circumstances may chime with those of carers in your workforce (even perhaps your own), all their experiences and journeys, like yours, are unique.

What is reflection?

Figure 1

When we look in the mirror we see our reflection. In everyday life we sometimes talk about being in a ‘reflective mood’, and we tend to reflect on things that don’t have an obvious or straightforward answer. We might take time to reflect on something to consider it in more detail, in greater depth and in a new way.

Self-reflection is thinking about yourself to gain greater self-awareness and understanding. Consciously or unconsciously it involves our thoughts, ideas, experience and knowledge. The process of reflection might be pleasurable or uncomfortable, or a mixture of both.

Reflection is a way of working on what we know already to create new knowledge and understanding. In this way it can help us recognise and appreciate skills and abilities that we have but often overlook. We can reflect at any time in our lives to help us examine our feelings around a whole range of experiences. It can help us review our decision making and motivations, and for that reason it is used in learning and workplaces in relation to personal development and career planning.

While reflection can be uncomfortable, it can also be liberating and empowering. Developing a better understanding of ourselves and our situation will enable us to move on.

The diverse experiences of carers have informed the development of this course. Some are in a position where their caring role is changing. For others, their role stays the same but they are finding new ways to cope.

Gavin, a carer support worker who leads on a project for young adult carers, sums up the skills and qualities he’s seen in carers:

Who is this course for?

Figure 2

Caring Counts in the Workplace is for managers and policy makers who are interested in finding out more about carers and understanding their own role in identifying and supporting carers in the workplace.

You will explore carers’ experiences first hand, and view case studies and examples of best practice in supporting carers at work. Working through the course will help you to reflect on your current and future practice as a manager or policy maker. The final session will help you to develop an action plan for creating a ‘Carer Positive’ workplace.

What do we mean by ‘Carer Positive’?

This course links to the criteria for Carer Positive, which is awarded to Scottish employers and organisations who are recognised for the support they provide to carers in their workforce.

Figure 3 Carer Positive

To find out more about Carer Positive visit their website.

A Carer Positive working environment is one where carers are valued and supported, and where there is a commitment to developing positive attitudes and practices with and for carers in the workplace. This might be through flexible working policies or with simple practical measures that can make a big difference to carers. Supportive line managers are key to a Carer Positive workplace and this course can contribute to raising managers’ awareness of carers.

Completing the Caring Counts in the Workplace course is not a requirement of Carer Positive but would certainly provide strong evidence that would contribute to meeting the required criteria.

The course also links to the Core Principles for Working with Carers and Young Carers (NES/SSSC 2013), which is the Scottish framework to support workforce learning and practice.

You’ll find out more about the Carer Positive and the Core Principles for Working with Carers and Young Carers in Session 5.

What is this course about?

Caring Counts in the Workplace features the lived experience and personal reflections of carers from diverse backgrounds and with different caring responsibilities. Their comments, together with their work on the reflective activities, highlight a range of personal journeys and the circumstances and challenges that have affected real life choices.

For example Clair looked after her mum, who died last year. She talks about the positive aspects of caring that she has recognised with the support of her local young adult carers group:

Figure 4 Clair

Lesley, who has already completed a reflection course, tells us how the process of reflection has helped to boost her confidence:

Figure 5 Lesley

Lesley also completed an Open University access course. While still caring for her son, she has gone on to study business studies part time at a local university.

You’ll hear more from Clair and Lesley shortly.

In the meantime you can meet all the carers  you’ll be hearing from during the course.

Why might this course be useful to me?

Working through Caring Counts in the Workplace will help you achieve the following learning outcomes:

• a clearer understanding of the experiences of carers
• an appreciation of the various skills, qualities and attributes that carers may develop and how some of these are transferable to work contexts
• an understanding of carers’ motivations to return to work, or to balance paid employment with their caring role
• an awareness of the factors that may help or hinder carers who are in paid employment, and the support available to them
• an understanding of your role, and your organisation’s role, in supporting carers in your workforce
• insight to help promote early identification of carers as part of your support and supervision
• an awareness of how workplace policies and practice can help ensure carers don’t experience discrimination at work
• the ability to identify practical steps to take to foster a Carer Positive workplace
• an understanding of how the Core Principles for Working with Carers and Young Carers are applicable in your practice.

We hope that you’ll find this course useful, not only in terms of increasing your understanding of carers’ lives but also in terms of helping you to reflect on your own experiences as a manager or policy maker supporting carers in the workforce. You will have the opportunity to reflect on questions such as: What’s working well? What could be done differently? And what would this involve?

Some of the activities within the course assume the carer’s perspective. We draw a distinction between the reflective activities undertaken by the carers who participated in the creation of the course, and the reflective tasks that you are invited to engage in. You will observe and share in the experiences of the participating carers and can use their shared experiences to inform your own reflective tasks.

The optional quizzes at the end of each session provide an opportunity to consolidate your knowledge and understanding of the course material. You will need to successfully complete the quizzes if you are working towards a digital course badge in recognition of your learning outcomes.

What’s in the course?

Caring Counts in the Workplace is structured as five sessions. As you progress through the course you will be invited to reflect on the carers’ experiences together with your own experiences and role as manager. The tasks within each session are designed to help you reflect on the following themes:

• identifying carers’ skills, qualities and attributes
• supporting carers in the workforce
• reflecting on your practice as a manager
• creating an action plan for your workplace.

Each session will take you between one and two hours to complete, depending on the amount of time you spend on the individual tasks and, if you are working with a mentor or within a group, the amount of discussion time you have.

Progressing through the course

As you progress through the course you’ll undertake reflection activities relevant to the course themes and learning outcomes.

You can complete these activities in a couple of ways: you can simply click on the activity material provided at each stage, or you can use your Reflection Log, a personal resource that allows you to collate in one document a record of your progress through the course as you undertake the various activities.

Recognition of your learning

While studying Caring Counts in the Workplace you have the option to work towards gaining a digital badge.

Figure 6 Course badge

Working individually, with a mentor or as part of a group

Figure 7

You can work through the course individually or supported by a mentor or in a group context.

Reflection can be challenging no matter who you are or what your role is. It can be helpful to work through your reflections with a mentor or colleagues.

It’s fine to work through the course on your own if you prefer. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time if you can, and try to find some moments of peace and quiet to work through the activities.

You may have the opportunity to share your reflections and ideas online, or face to face with colleagues.

Alternatively, you might be working through this course in a group context, perhaps in an intensive workshop session or over a number of weeks.

Summary

This introduction has set out the aims and objectives of Caring Counts in the Workplace for managers and policy makers. You have met the carers whose diverse experiences have informed the development of the course. We introduced the concept of reflection and you shared in some of the reflections of the carers presented here. We highlighted reflection as a process to develop your practice, which in turn will help to prepare you to create your action plan for a Carer Positive workplace.

Are you ready to start?

Session 1: Defining myself and how I feel about my present situation

Acknowledgements

Caring Counts: a self-reflection and planning course for carers was written by Lindsay Hewitt and Sarah Burton, quizzes by Julie Robson, The Open University.

This course was redeveloped to create Caring Counts in the Workplace in collaboration with Gill Ryan from NHS Education for Scotland and the Scottish Social Services Council’s Equal Partners in Care project, together with Sue McLintock (Carers Scotland) from the Scottish Government’s Carer Positive initiative.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence.   

The material acknowledged below is Proprietary and used under licence (not subject to Creative Commons Licence). Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit:

Images

Unit image: Ross Finnie for © The Open University

Figure 1: Josh Blake/iStockphoto.com

Figure 2: Ross Finnie for © The Open University

Figure 3: Carer Positive, Carers UK 2015

Figure 4: Ross Finnie for © The Open University

Figure 5: Ross Finnie for © The Open University

Figure 6: Badge illustration © The Open University

Figure 7: © iStockphoto.com

Video

Caring Roles and Learning Lives video: © The Open University

Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.

Don't miss out:

1. Join over 200,000 students, currently studying with The Open University – http://www.open.ac.uk/ choose/ ou/ open-content

2. Enjoyed this? Find out more about this topic or browse all our free course materials on OpenLearn – http://www.open.edu/ openlearn/

3. Outside the UK? We have students in over a hundred countries studying online qualifications – http://www.openuniversity.edu/ – including an MBA at our triple accredited Business School.

4. Carer Positive Find out more about the award for employers http://www.carerpositive.org/

5. Equal Partners in Care Find out more about the Scottish framework for learning and practice with carers and young carers www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/ equalpartnersincare or www.ssks.org.uk/ equalpartnersincare