#SpeakUp : A Review of Home Care – The African Caribbean Perspective
Download (PDF 1.46 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Sheffield worked in partnership with SACMHA to understand the experiences of the African Caribbean Community receiving home care.
They spoke to 19 people about their experience during three sessions between May and June 2021. This included service users and a professional forum where they heard from social workers, care managers and social care staff.
What works well
- Employing Personal Assistants (PAs) via Direct Payments led to better experiences
- PAs coming from the same cultural background as clients was valuable
- People had a more positive experience when they were familiar with carers and knew what to expect
What doesn’t work well
- Care providers: lack of experienced staff; staff who were not caring or respectful; care is not individualised or person-centred
- Personal Assistants and Direct Payments: finding a PA can be challenging; complex administration; difficulties sourcing holiday and sickness cover
- Poor communication from agencies and families having to spend time chasing up
- Lack of culturally appropriate care: not enough time taken to understand the cultural needs of an individual
- Costs of care are unclear - people don't know in advance what they will need to pay
- There is not enough training to ensure carers provide empathetic, person-centred care
A number of recommendations were made in this report.