short breaks

The aim of the research was to explore the costs of short break services for disabled children and their families. The study also sought to understand the contracting and commissioning process, including the factors that inform decision making processes and the management of budgets.

The research was commissioned by Action for Children and carried out by the Centre for Child and Family Research, Loughborough University.

"Health and social care services should focus on the needs of the individual to promote their health and wellbeing, and in particular, to enable people to live healthier lives in their community. Key to this is that people’s experience of health and social care services and their impact is positive; that they are able to shape the care and support that they receive; and that people using services, whether health or social care, can expect a quality service regardless of where they live."

Executive Summary
Dundee Carers Centre commissioned Animate to carry out research into the current and future provision of Short Breaks/Respite for adults in Dundee, on behalf of the Dundee Partnership. The main purpose of the research was to help local service planners improve Short Break provision in line with the overall principles of the Scottish Government’s policy intentions: protecting young carers, enabling self - care and working with adult carers as partners in care, by:
• improving planning of Short Break services

Personal budgets are now a core part of social care and will be an increasingly significant part of the future of healthcare and education for many. We have moved on from their introduction in the Putting People First concordat in 2007 with an expectation that 30% of people would be using them by 2011 – to the Care Act requirement that all eligible people should hold one.

This research is from England carried out by In-Control to evidence the impact of personal budgets on those who use them and services.

The Easy Consultation Toolkit is designed to help short break providers and others with short break consultation.

Rather than duplicate existing work on the principles of consultation, this toolkit provides a set of adaptable, practical tools.

In 2012 Natural England commissioned Dementia Adventure (a Community Interest Company which connects people living with dementia, with nature and a sense of adventure) to review the existing evidence of the benefits and barriers facing people living with dementia in accessing the natural environment and their local green space.

Research that shows that the UK is falling far behind other countries regarding care leave, many of which are finding creative solutions to support their workforce and address the challenges of ageing populations.

It argues that if the UK is to cope with the critical demographic challenge it faces and reap the social and economic benefits of helping carers to juggle work and care then more must be done.

No one would argue that unpaid family carers should not be equal partners in care, as their care constitutes over 50% of all care provided in every local authority and NHS region of Scotland. Consistent and meaningful carer engagement must therefore be at the heart of all good health and social care policy. But a great gulf remains between good intentions and good practice. The Coalition of Carers in Scotland is pleased to o!er the carer engagement standards in this document as a bridge to help planning o"cers and commissioners of services move from good intentions to better practice.

The Better Breaks programme awarded its first grants in March 2012. 51 grants, totalling £1,121,602 were distributed to projects across Scotland so that these projects could deliver quality short breaks for children and young people with disabilities which would be tailored to their needs whilst giving their families a break from caring.
The evaluation was based on information provided by the funded projects through their applications, their End of Grant reports, any supporting materials provided, selected telephone calls and review of the Shared Stories films.

Report that looks at local authority compliance with the Short Break Duty through analysing 55 short breaks services statements that have been sent to EDCM from local authorities.

It aims to identify good practice and also to explore what further guidance it may be helpful to provide local authorities with to enable them to fully meet the requirements of the Duty and the needs of local disabled children and their families.