Carers’ week- helping carers access their rights

Rachel Davison, dementia training officer, at Age Scotland blogs this week for Carers’ Week and explores why it is important carers have the knowledge and confidence to access their rights and to receive support in their caring role that is timely and personal to their situation.  

What are carers’ rights?

The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 set out new and significant rights for carers, including the right to an adult carer support plan and a wider definition of who can be considered an unpaid carer. In addition, if eligible, carers can access self-directed support in their own right; can claim certain welfare benefits if they meet the criteria; and carers are also covered by equality and human rights legislation giving them particular rights including in relation to employment. 

But a common theme that runs through many discussions with carers is a lack of knowledge about these rights. Often carers, and people living with dementia have never experienced claiming benefits or accessing social care, and they don’t know where to begin. Carers can be overwhelmed and exhausted by their experiences of caring and this can be a barrier to accessing support. Many carers have commented how they feel there’s no clear pathway or map showing them the route ahead.

How is Age Scotland helping carers access their rights?

The Dementia Training team began running carers’ rights workshops for Age Scotland in 2020, and one of the key areas of carers rights we cover in our workshops is information about the Carers (Scotland) Act, with a particular focus on adult carer support plans. Often carers tell us that this is the first time they have heard about these plans, but following attendance at our workshops, feel empowered to seek these out.

We also offer workshops focusing on benefits for carers. As a benefits adviser for the Age Scotland helpline, I learned that lack of knowledge, complex rules, off-putting forms and some pervasive benefit myths meant many people do not claim all they are entitled to. Many carers over pension age are often aware they are unable to claim Carer’s Allowance because of overlapping benefit rules. But how many of these carers know that with the addition of the carer premium (also known as underlying entitlement to Carer’s Allowance), their threshold for benefits can be increased and they may be able to claim Pension Credit? We know from research that there are 123,000 eligible older households in Scotland who are not claiming Pension Credit, equating to £332m of support left unclaimed each year.

A further example of lack of knowledge is that many people living with dementia and their carers are unaware that people living with dementia can in many circumstances be ‘disregarded’ for council tax purposes which can lead to a reduction in bills. In our workshops we address some benefit myths and encourage carers to seek individual benefit advice.

Other workshop topics include Self-directed Support, Power of Attorney and Hospital Discharge. All our workshops are aimed at ensuring carers receive clear information about their rights and feel informed and confident in their knowledge to seek these out.

Online carers’ rights workshops run throughout the year, and for those unable to attend these, we also offer online self-study courses. We have partnerships with other organisations supporting carers such as tide, local carers centres and other voluntary organisations to offer our workshops, aiming to reach diverse populations of carers. We have produced a range of informative factsheets and we encourage carers with further questions to contact the Age Scotland helpline on 0800 12 44 222.

We strongly believe it is every carer’s right to know their rights; to have the knowledge and confidence to access these rights and to receive support in their caring role that is timely and personal to their situation.  

To book a workshop click here.