my Briefing Paper on: Dementia Carer Voices from last weeks Members debate at Parliament

Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (The ALLIANCE)

Briefing Paper on: Dementia Carer Voices

Dementia Carer Voices

Dementia Carer Voices, managed by the ALLIANCE, is a two year project funded by the Scottish Government which harnesses the work of Tommy Whitelaw and recognises the importance of the carer voice, in informing future service provision and in empowering carers themselves. 

In June 2011, as part of his ‘Tommy on Tour’ campaign, Tommy Whitelaw, a carer for his late Mum Joan, walked around Scotland’s towns and cities to raise awareness of the impact of dementia on families and the difficult but vital role played by carers. Since then, he has engaged with thousands of carers through twitter, his blog and frequent talks to health and social care professionals and carers organisations across Scotland, allowing him to collect hundreds of life stories from people which detail their experiences of caring for a loved one living with dementia. The letters demonstrate that carers of people with dementia often feel isolated and that there is insufficient recognition of the range of complex issues about which they are expected to have understanding, from legal to financial, to health and housing, as well as, cope with the distressing, social and emotional demands of caring. 


link to full briefing paper parliament March 20th Dementia Carer Voices 

http://tommy-on-tour-2011.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/link-to-briefing-paper-for-debate-today.html

Video of debate http://youtu.be/9iHhwjt7n2M