Latest News & Events

Care Alliance Activities

last updated 23/03/10

Information Provision

We source and review international research and reports on issues affecting Family Carers, and share such information to those involved in supporting Family Carers. This includes member organisations, HSE and NGO personnel as well as academics and policy makers.

Research

In 2008 we produced the first quantitative research in an Irish context looking at the health status of Family Carers. (Download CAI Health and Wellbeing of Family Carers .pdf 693kb) Following on from this piece of research in November 2009 we completed a qualitative piece of research in collaboration with the Parkinsons Association of Ireland entitled 'The Caring reality of Family Carers: An Exploration of the health status of a specific group of Family Carers.' This report will be published in June 2010.

We have recently secured some funding from the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) to undertake research in the area of post-caring. The research is being carried out in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin.

We are strengthening our relationships with several academic institutions through collaborative joint research bids and are currently engaged in an EU wide (Grundtvig) project with 4 other EU Carers organisations that will be documenting the un-certified skills acquired by Family Carers.

We lead in a interagency and multi-discplinary Family Carer Research Group that meets regularly.

We produce a quarterly Newsletter, Care Alliance Exchange. Spring 2010 edition available to view by clicking here.

Carers Week 2010

We lead in the co-ordination of an annual National Carers Week (June 14th -20th 2010) with 10 regional and national partner organisations.(See www.carersweek.ie ). During Carers Week 2009 over 100 events took place throughout the country. Plans for Carers Week 2010 are progressing.

Membership

We have over 65 member organisations that represent a wide group of voluntary organisations throughout the island of Ireland, all of whom are involved in supporting Family Carers in various ways. We also have a number of statutory organisations who are associate members.

Conferences/Seminars

As part of Carers Week 2009 we organised a seminar on Family Carer Training. (June 8th/9th 2009) www.carersweek.ie/events.htm#ath In March 2009 we held a joint conference alongside The Neurological Alliance of Ireland. The conference was part of Brain Awareness Week 2009.. Download Report on Conference Themes of our previous conferences have included: The Relationship between Family Carers and Paid Care Workers; Home Care Packages, and Carers' Assessments and Carers' Health. We are currently organising a joint seminar with the Disability Federation of Ireland on collaboration between Disability organisation and Family Carer organisations.

Membership of External Organisations

We are active members of The Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI), The Wheel, The World Alliance of Caregivers and sit on the executive of Eurocarers.

Lobbying

We are actively involved in making submissions to the government and other national/regulatory bodies on various matters. This includes making pre-budget submissions to government departments.