Mental health needs are often hidden and can affect people in many different ways. This page offers some helpful tips to find specialist support: Caring for someone with a mental health needs | Carers UK
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Hi @Paola_Carers_UK FYI I found some interesting information when I did a search to see if I could help @SweetBriar73
FYI What to expect at Community MHT meeting - #15 by Victoria_1806
I didnât know about this framework, carers are mentioned within it
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Thank you both for these much appreciated! Iâll have a read. The problem Im finding atvthe moment is that although services are there in reality when I try to access them they arenât. Ive doing a carers group but have had no response ( but thatâs fine as I just use this forum!) and have got my husband to sign up to 2 advertised groups which have been cancelled. I know resources are scarce but it doesnât help when you manage to get someone with MH issues to go to something and then it doesnât happen
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50 years ago I was involved with social care.
There were some really good day services run by health and social services so people with various needs could live at home but provide care and a social life during the day. There was a âday hospitalâ so that elderly people just discharged from hospital could be monitored carefully as they settled back into the community. There were links with the Home Help Service (another thing thatâs gone) and with Meals on Wheels. Every week there was a review of each patient, and details of new patients about to be discharged.
There was âsheltered employmentâ for those who were mentally or physically disabled. Happy places where there was a good social life.
There was a club for the disabled who met once a week, with transport organised.
One by one they disappeared in favour of âcare in the communityâ. Then disappeared altogether, leaving family members to provide 24/7 care.
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Yes it seems â care in the communityâ means dumping things on unpaid carers and volunteers. Surely in the long run it cheaper to just invest in services?
Iâm sure that something like the hospital day service would enormously reduce âbed blockingâ, a term I hate, by the way. It enabled people to get back home as quickly as possible whilst still having access to a consultant, physio, OT, hot meals and even an assisted bath. There was no tedious referral system either, staff could respond immediately. The modern hospital is aimed at making people âbetterâ and sending them home asap, but you canât cure elderly people With age related issues. They are the generation around when the cradle to the grave NHS was formed. They deserve better.
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