West Midlands Regional Development Centre are pleased to promote a positive practice training event aimed at BME Carers.
 
The ‘Caring for Carers’ training course aims to prepare staff and family members to deliver an eleven-week programme of information-sharing, coping strategies and support to carers of people experiencing mental health difficulties with a specific emphasis on the needs of Black and Minority Ethnic carers. The programme is designed to bring together small teams of staff and carers in order that they can develop their skills in training, supervising and supporting others in a highly collaborative, practical way.
 
On the introductory course 17 participants – 12 practitioners, 5 BME carers completed the course. Participants rated the workbooks and course materials as excellent noting that they were clear, well structured and a good guide for future training.
 
A second cohort of Carers Development workers and BME carers undertook the ‘Caring for Carers” course in January 2008. This cohort was well attended with 22 participants in all. The range of participants varied which gave a rich diversity to the experiences shared. In particular, the range from health and social care, as well as the voluntary and independent sector provided a lively debate on the realities facing BME Carers.
 
A third course of the 'train the trainer' programme took place on the 27th, 28th and 29th January 2009. This training event was an opportunity for mental health organisations wishing to develop the services they offer to BME Carers. For more information click here.

WMRDC will be monitoring the roll-out of this course directly to BME carers in the community. New partnerships have been established to assist in rolling out this course in specific localities. It is clear that there is an urgent need to pursue the practice of developing carers and recognising the great value of their experience in supporting service users in mental health.
 
 
This work programme is supported as part of the wider Carers Strategy in conjunction with Carers in Partnership.