Human services

Juggling work and care presents particular challenges to carers and employers. Employers are increasingly under pressure, both from within organizations and from recent government legislation and policy, to develop family-friendly policies to support informal carers in the workplace. Yet existing ‘family-friendly’ schemes and services are still primarily designed for working parents of young children and rarely address the needs of employees who care for older or disabled adults.

Including informal carers within social work training programmes is generally regarded positively. Such approval is aligned with the view that users of welfare services possess valuable, even unique perspectives relevant to professional education and training. This article identifies three models incorporating the experience of carers into social work training and draws attention to aspects of good practice.