National Valuing Family Forum Personalisation National Forum Telford 8 th December 2010

National Valuing Family Forum A group of people that are working in geographical areas across England in the interest of people with learning disabilities and their families. There are people from large well known organisation like MENCAP and Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Standing Commission for Carers Our aim is to support family carers by influencing positive change. We want to see good changes, good information and good support reaching every one.

What is a Family Carer? Generally Family Carers are parents, husbands, wives, siblings, close relatives, good friends and neighbours What they are is unpaid They are just as likely to be men They could be as young as three and as old as Father Time They could be you!

Who do they support? Loved ones Family Carers are supporting people with long term conditions such as mental health, dementia, and MS. Family Carers are supporting people with a learning disability and in turn people with a learning disability can have caring responsibilities Older people and people with acquired injuries

What family carers aren’t They are not saints They aren’t super-human They are not social workers, chemists, trainers, health assistants, occupational therapist, business managers, speed readers rolled into one Equal partners They are not able to be robots either!

Personalisation The National Valuing Family Forum think that personal budgets are a very good thing if managed well We hear of people lives changing for the better when they use their personal budget well We hear of people doing inspiration things with their lives We hear of people getting support from new friends We hear of people willing to share their knowledge and information

What happens if personalisation is not done well in your area? People will not know what is happening or have information that they can talk about with other people There will not be a menu of options of services that people can choice from There will not be good advice, inspiration and support to help people make changes There will not be good support for the family carer with timely carer assessments being carried out.

What will make the difference? Everyone focusing on the value of what changes people want to make and not so much on the money issues Everyone, especially the advocates ensuring that people are hear the right messages. This includes the LA workforce Everyone knowing what is important to them People having support to develop their natural circle of support Strengthening family advocacy ensuring it’s effectiveness at every stage

So what now and how do we achieve it?

Thank you for listening!