Caring with Confidence

Learning new skills or brushing up on your existing knowledge can make life as a carer much easier....

Before 28 September 2010, group sessions were available through the Caring with Confidence programme. Although the Caring with Confidence groups sessions are no longer run through a government-funded programme, many organisations wish to continue providing some or all of the training that was available through Caring with Confidence. If you are a carer, you may be able to find a local organisation that is running group sessions or that can provide distance learning modules.

Caring with Confidence also ran online self-study learning programmes. Similar programmes will soon be available on Carers Direct and can help you in your caring role to:

understand how the care system works
understand how caring affects your life and balance your commitments more effectively
communicate more effectively with the person you care for as well as health and social care professionals
take control of your time and finances
understand the emotions you may experience in caring and find practical ways to deal with these emotions

For more information about taking part in the online programme see our page on the carers interactive learning programme.

Carers support organisations and providers of training

If you work for a carers support organisation or a training provider, visit http://www.selfmanagement.co.uk/cwc-resources-training-providers You can download all the material you need to run a range of courses for carers, including those targeted at specific groups of carers, such as those caring for a disabled child.

You can also download self-study workbooks that can be given to carers who want to study at their own pace or do not have time to attend group sessions.

The Caring with Confidence project developed a programme of flexible sessions for unpaid carers to help make a positive difference to their lives and that of the person they care for. Carers could get involved with Caring with Confidence in three ways – through local group sessions alongside other carers from their local community, or from home using flexible self-study workbooks or online sessions designed to be completed at a pace to fit in with the demands that carers face in their day to day lives.

The programme consists of several stand-alone sessions covering different topics which allow carers to pick and choose which ones to do depending on their own caring situation. Sessions look at things like practical aspects of day-to-day caring, communicating with others, financial and other resources and looking after health and wellbeing. Each session gives the opportunity to develop skills, obtain advice and information, and for carers to talk and share experiences with others in similar situations.

Caring with Confidence is committed to ensuring that those facilitators who are trained to deliver Caring With Confidence sessions will continue to be able to use their skills, have opportunities for delivery and to network with others in the self-management community. To enable this, Caring with Confidence is working with the National Register of Self-Management.

Caring with Confidence is a challenging programme to deliver. It is strongly advises that organisations use experienced trainers when setting up the programme. Organisations that can provide training can be accessed via The National Register of Self-Management admin@selfmanagement.co.uk or call 0333 3441800 ..

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Carers support organisations and providers of training