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Recovery for carers

Welcome to the ‘Recovery for Carers, Families and Friends’ section of the Meriden Family Programme website – which includes a wealth of information, advice and support that we believe will be helpful to all:

  • carers, family and friends of people affected by mental health issues
  • professionals who work with carers and families

There is also information which will be of interest to those who work in research and academic areas or who are involved in developing strategies related to carers, within local authorities, health services or other organisations which may have contact with carers.

The Meriden Family Programme aims to help people with mental health problems, and those who care about them, live with them or support them. We do this in a number of ways:

  • working directly with families
  • advising organisations to think of the needs of the service user’s social network
  • providing staff training

We know how families, friends and carers may struggle to find information and to know what to do to help the person experiencing mental health difficulties. These situations can be distressing, stressful and sometimes traumatic.

We are also very aware that family members and friends often neglect their own needs – possibly resulting in their own health being affected.

From our research on family members’ own recovery, the need for material and guidance was clear. We wanted to offer support to anyone coping with the mental health issues of a loved one, and thought it would be helpful to gather information together in one place where it would be easy to find.

Acknowledgements

Grateful thanks to Caring Minds, the charitable trust of Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust for funding the development of this website material, and to Michele Gladden, Carer, for the layout, preparation and development of all the material.

Thank you to all those who allowed us to use or reproduce their material including:

 

Helpful services for carers
Recovery resources for professionals