Putting Carers into the Heart of Dorset Pat Vinycomb

Why Carers Matter You are the experts in caring Your health and wellbeing matters The person you care for matters You deserve the best Efficient services and support that are coordinated, family centred and delivered locally 2

Supporting Carers to express their views Who is listening to you? 3

Creating a dynamic voice for Carers Dismantle the barriers to involvement – “Think Local” Recognise the constraints of caring Capture views and experiences “Think Carer” 4

How can you influence the design of local services for Carers? You are experts by experience Services should make a positive difference to the lives of people using them Local knowledge – added value 5

Dorset Carers working together to help organisations to put Carers and their families at the centre of what they do. Better access to information, advocacy and peer support Real time feedback through engagement and consultation 6

The way forward for Dorset Carers’ voices Interagency locality model Central hub Free flow of information Single point of access Shared identity 7

Think Caraere Think Carer 8