A University of Brighton criminology graduate has been helping carers of people with dementia to take more control of their lives as part of an award-winning NHS pilot.
Since graduating in 2010, Criminology MA graduate Sasha Ahmad, has been working on a Carers Support Services project which provides personal health budgets. The innovative pilot scheme recently won the £3,000 runner up prize at the prestigious GlaxoSmithKline Impact Awards 2012.
It aims to improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of carers across West Sussex by providing them with an annual personal health budget and a support worker who gives one to one assistance.
Dementia is a disease which becomes harder and harder to manage over time and can cause considerable stress to carers, who are often frail and elderly themselves. The idea behind personal health budgets is to support carers so they can continue to cope with their vital role.
Top of the list of what carers want to spend the budget on are transport so they and the person with dementia can get out and about more easily, leisure activities and internet access in their homes. The support worker builds a relationship with the carer, and as well as allocating the budget, provides advice, information and support.
The scheme has been well received and earlier this year was featured in the medical journal Practical Commissioning. Local commissioners await the final evaluation with interest, but initial feedback suggests that carers taking part are more physically and socially active.
For more information, see the Carers Support Service website.
When the pilot ends in December this year, Sasha, who is also a proud mum of three children, intends to build on work she did for her masters thesis on honour killings with further research into the issue, focusing on the situation in the UK.
