Defined as the 'Third Workforce' of over 6.5 million strong, carers provide an informal unpaid service to meet complex to simple healthcare needs, social care, and administrative support for the cared for. Their caring role brings them very much on to the front line of care delivery and as such, they are vulnerable to stress and burnout.
The programme was developed from Grays (2016; 17) original work, and underwent robust pre and post evaluation using SWMWBS and qualitative questions.
The programme, as an intervention, was shown to have a significant improvement on the mental wellbeing of carers.
The programme once learned, has also shown to be sustainable in the long term, with carers continuing to meet as a peer support work group 10 months post programme completion, and receiving no further support from the programme sponsors.
The programme is being presented as a masterclass at the British Medical Journal/Institute of Healthcare Improvement International Conference in Kuala Lumpur in 2017. The programme is being developed for young carers in the Autumn of 2017.