29th July
Dear ADASS Carers Network members:
We are delighted to launch our State of Caring 2022 survey this week, and we would be really grateful for your help in encouraging carers to take part. All the information we get from carers helps us to build a picture of what caring is like at the moment and we are keen to hear from as many different carers as possible.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YFHDWYW
As you know, our annual State of Caring survey is the UK’s most comprehensive research into the lives and experience of carers and we know that all of you use it in your work as a source of evidence.
We want to understand carers’ priorities for the future and what support they need to help recover from the pandemic, and to create a positive legacy for the future. We’re covering a few some really important issues for carers this year, cost of living, a new question on rural/urban, access to healthcare and hospital discharge. We’re checking back in on use of tech, how accessible social care is and carers’ priorities for the future. Assessments remain a core part of our evidence gathering.
Last year, we used carers’ collective voice and evidence to secure new rights for carers in the Health and Social Care Act 2022 in England, to campaign for cost of living increases in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, to provide evidence of the need for a right to Carer’s Leave and other support within the workplace, and to campaign for breaks and funding for social care - and there’s still much more to do.
Please share this survey with your contacts locally and fill it in if you are a carer yourself. We would particularly welcome responses from carers from lesser heard communities, such as carers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and LGBTQ+ carers.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YFHDWYW
The survey will close on 11 September and we will be releasing a research report in November.
If you have any questions about the research, please get in touch with our policy team by emailing policy@carersuk.org