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.