Project case study:
Community engagement and co-production
Improving support for unpaid carers in Somerset – Somerset’s Commitment to Carers
Somerset Integrated Care Board commissioned Evolving Communities to independently establish and run the Somerset Carers Engagement Project, culminating in the co-production of a new Commitment to Carers.
What is the Commitment to Carers?
Somerset’s Commitment to Carers 2024 is a statement, aligned with the 2014 and 2022 Care Acts, that acknowledges the invaluable contribution and challenges faced by unpaid carers and outlines the values, principles and actions that health and social care services should adopt to support them. The Commitment was endorsed by Somerset ICB in March 2024; it will influence health and social care strategies, service commissioning and development, and guide their work with the voluntary and community sector.
The Commitment aims to enhance the quality of life for carers and those they care for by improving their experience of health and social care and supporting them to access information and opportunities to keep healthy and live well while they carry out their vital caring roles.
Our work
The Commitment to Carers reflects priorities we identified through consultation and co-production with hundreds of carers and those who work with and support carers, including statutory, voluntary and community organisations.
During 2022-24, we carried out hundreds of engagement conversations, feedback sessions and workshops, including 65 visits to carers groups, 25 case studies and hundreds of responses to the question: ‘What are the five key issues and challenges unpaid carers experience?’ We organised a major co-production event attended by 130 carers, service providers and community development organisations.
The Commitment also responds to reports from a range of wider sources that places it in a regional and national context while remaining focused on Somerset’s own issues and challenges.
Co-production event (left to right): Alison Birkett, former carer; Andrew Henon, Somerset Carers Engagement Project Lead; Siana Paginton, young carer; Councillor Heather Shearer, Associate Lead Member for Childrens Social Care & SEND; Gill Keniston-Goble, Healthwatch Somerset Manager; and Jonathan Higman, Chief Executive NHS Somerset.
Working with:
“There are approximately 50,000 unpaid carers in Somerset who provide vital support to the people they care for. Many of these people don’t think of themselves as carers, as they see what they do as a normal part of family life, or just being a good friend. Caring for someone, though very rewarding, can also be very isolating and demanding, so as a Local Authority, we have a duty to support them to look after the people they love.”
Read the report
Somerset’s Commitment to Carers 2024
Find out about the Commitment priorities and recommendations, to learn how it was created and how it will guide work across the health and care system.
Watch the videos
Carers, Alison and Siana, talk about their caring roles and what the Commitment to Carers means to them.
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Work with us
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