Carers annual survey results

by | Mar 4, 2019 | Carer News

11 March 2019

Towards the end of 2018, 113 of you completed our annual Carers survey. As promised, here we reveal the findings.

We asked you to share your opinions and experiences about your caring role, how Care for the Carers supports you, and how we can adjust our services to support you better.

Annual Survey 2018 Methodology

The 2018 annual survey was issued in the Winter 2018 edition of CareLine magazine and also made available online for two months until 31st December 2018.

The survey invited feedback about carers’ experiences of using Care for the Carers services, to help us improve services for carers in East Sussex by telling us about your experience of Care for the Carers.

The survey received 113 responses, including 94 online responses and 19 responses via the CareLine magazine survey.

Carers were encouraged to complete the survey and enter a prize draw – the lucky winner of the £50 Argos voucher prize draw, kindly donated by Sainsbury’s in The Beacon, Eastbourne, is Paul Tandy-Gates, of Hailsham, East Sussex.

Survey results summary

Care for the Carers’ Director of Services, Jo Egan, outlined some of the findings from the survey at our Carers’ Forum in Eastbourne, on 20 February 2019. Here’s a summary breakdown of the survey carers annual survey meeting thumbnail imageresults*:

Information and Advice from Care for the Carers…

  • is helpful to me as a carer – 101 (93%) respondents strongly agree or agree
  • is available to me when I need it – 95 (87%) respondents strongly agree or agree
  • has let me know about my rights, and the support available to me – 99 (90%) respondents strongly agree or agree
  • has helped me to make informed decisions – 95 (90%) respondents strongly agree or agree
  • listens to me/my suggestions – 91 (87%) respondents strongly agree or agree

I feel that Care for the Carers…

  • Has supported me as a carer – 97 (87%) respondents strongly agree or agree
  • Values me as an equal partner – 94 (86%) respondents strongly agree or agree
  • Respects me – 99 (91%) respondents strongly agree or agree
  • Has helped me to improve my own health and wellbeing – 88 (83%) respondents strongly agree or agree
  • Provides me with options for socialising with other carers – 92 (87%) respondents strongly agree or agree
  • Overall, I am satisfied with Care for the Carers – 94 (87%) respondents strongly agree or agree

Other findings from the survey revealed that the majority of carers who responded either often or sometimes feel alone or isolated, and more than half report feeling stressed a lot.

I have lost my confidence and don’t know how to get back into work.

Just over 41% respondents say their physical health is often worse as a result of being a carer, and that their own wellbeing has been affected.

Unsurprisingly, we also found that problems with finances and carers’ ability to work have affected the majority of carers, too.

Caring role is mentally and emotionally pre-occupying,and takes up your time.

Carers’ hopes for the future

In addition to an increase in funding for carers’ respite and financial aid, carers responded to the question Can you suggest any support or service that would help you that is not currently available?.

Suggestions for additional help and services included:

  • more evening carers groups in areas across East Sussex;
  • a useful list of carers’ parking information;
  • more legal information for carers;
  • physical therapies;
  • more focus on specialist care support – for example, Aspergers’ Syndrome and Parkinsons;
  • more groups for carers to attend alongside the person they care for; and
  • more specialised and rural groups.

We also received feedback that clearer signposting would be useful about where it’s possible to use the East Sussex Carers Card. You can download a list below:

Download a list of current Carers Card offers

CareLine magazine

Feedback about CareLine magazine included that most carers find the publication useful, with many of you really valuing the inclusion of contact information for local carer organisations, and Carers Card information, in particular.

We hope to take action on all of the comments received over the course of the coming year if we’re able, and we’ll keep you posted as to our progress.

In the meantime, if you have any further feedback we’d love to hear from you. Get in contact.

* Findings – where questions were unanswered, these have been excluded from the percentage calculations.

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