Coventry & Warwickshire COVID-19 Portal

Supporting carers during the COVID-19 pandemic  

 

Care Companion newsletter – March 2020 

• Welcome

• Carer planning and COVID-19

• Key features

• See how Care Companion works

• Care Companion leaflets

• Promoting Care Companion

• Contact us

Welcome

 

Please forward this newsletter onto interested organisations, teams and colleagues.

With the unprecedented pressures on health and social care services, individuals with caring responsibilities are now even more essential in supporting the increasing numbers of vulnerable people who are self-isolating.

 

It is more important than ever that carers have trusted information, guidance and advice that is relevant to their individual circumstances. 

 

Care Companion is there to provide this support. It has tips, resources and functions to help carers manage each day, through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. 

 

Care Companion has been funded by the NHS and local government in Coventry and Warwickshire – it is there for health and care providers to promote to informal carers. Do encourage them to register and start using it!

Carer planning and COVID-19

The challenges that carers face such as loneliness and isolation will become more acute over the coming weeks. Finding relevant information, and managing general wellbeing, during the COVID-19 pandemic is critically important. There will be new concerns about how to sustain caring roles in the event that they or the person they care for becomes unwell. 

 

Care Companion is there to support carers as they manage their responsibilities through the current crisis. As a simple to use, interactive online resource, it offers access to information, advice and guidance to strengthen carers’ resilience and help them adapt to current uncertainties. It links to a vast range of resources that are tailored to individual circumstances.

Key features

Resources – personalised, profile-driven resources linked to the cared-for person’s condition(s), location, age of carer, ethnicity, etc

Diary – for appointments, recording results and the carer’s and cared-for person’s day-to-day experiences

Mood monitor – for monitoring the carer’s mood and the person they care for

Address Book – for creating, browsing, and adding important numbers and addresses for resources and support 

                                                               

Notifications – for setting reminders and ticking them off when completed 

Glossary – an index of words that carers may come across during appointments or in resources

See how Care Companion works

Care Companion can be accessed directly at www.carecompanion.org.uk. Try it for yourself to see how it can help the patients, clients and communities you represent.   

Care Companion leaflets

Copies of a “let’s-get-started” introductory guide provides information on the online resource and how to start using it. These leaflets can be posted or provided electronically, and are also available in GP practices, charities, support groups and hospitals across Coventry and Warwickshire. 

Alternatively, click here to access our introducing Care Companion leaflet and getting started guide.

Promoting Care Companion

• Create a brief message, such as:

“We are recommending everyone who has caring responsibilities to register with Care Companion, www.carecompanion.org.uk. This locally developed resource provides up to date, trusted information and advice to help you through the COVID-19 pandemic, tailored to the needs of you and the person you care for."

• Send the message by SMS text and/or email to those on your carers’ register.

• Include information about Care Companion on your website.

• Provide carers with advice to register with Care Companion, and offer a leaflet whenever they are seen in a face to face interaction.

Contact us

For leaflets or to arrange a telephone meeting with one of our team, please get in touch. We can explain more about Care Companion, including the benefits of the resource to the people you support and how to promote it to your patients and clients.  

Please email carecompanion@warwick.ac.uk or tweet us @CareCompanion3.

We look forward to hearing from you! 

You are receiving this email because you are included in a distribution list for Care Companion newsletter. 

 

Our mailing address is:

Unit of Academic Primary Care,

Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick,

Coventry

CV4 7AL

United Kingdom 

Email: carecompanion@warwick.ac.uk

   Website: warwick.ac.uk/carecompanion 

 

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