Carers (Scotland) Act 2016: statutory guidance - updated July 2021

Annex D: Carer identification

1. Carer identification can be carried out by, amongst others:

• health and social care and children's services professionals when carrying out assessments with cared-for persons;
• health and social care professionals during anticipatory care planning;
• health and social care professionals in hospital settings;
• district nurse teams;
• occupational therapists;
• social care assistants;
• GP Link Workers;
• guidance and teaching staff in schools and staff in colleges and universities;
• providers of care and support services;
• housing staff;
• third sector and independent organisations;
• employers (including those who are Carer Positive^[206]);
• multilingual groups; and
• outreach with gypsy traveller communities and by those working with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities.

2. The potential barriers to carer identification include:

• identifying with the term 'carer' – both because of confusion with care workers being referred to as carers and because they see themselves primarily as a 'mother', 'daughter' etc.;
• the view that caring is a legitimate domain of family responsibility;
• resisting access to support in order to protect a person's identity;
• pride in self-sufficiency and a sense of shame in asking for, or being offered, support;
• lack of family contact with social work departments;
• fear of societal stigma if caring for someone with substance misuse or mental ill health;
• self-management by people with long-term conditions but the caring role becomes more intense over time as people's health deteriorates;
• with respect to young carers, fear of family break-up or being treated differently to friends who are not carers since young people like a group identity;
• language barriers and lack of translation services, for example, there is no word for 'carer' in Punjabi and Urdu;
• lack of training with some GPs and other healthcare professionals;
• a need to fully consider the personal outcomes of the carer in the family dynamic; and
• the visibility of services to support carers in some 'hard-to–reach' communities, such as in rural and remote areas and in BME communities.

3. Examples of good practice in identifying carers include:

• link workers in GP and hospital settings;
• employers with carer registers and websites on carers in employment;
• sensitive young carer identification in schools via awareness raising, small group exercises and teacher training and continuous professional development with links to Getting it right for every child;
• carer awareness raising in colleges and universities via carer campaigns and carer policies;
• local publicity and communications; and
• training of health and social care professionals.