Many Black, Asian and minority ethnic unpaid carers don’t recognise themselves as carers. Some languages even lack a distinct word for ‘carer’. It’s vital that services are inclusive to ensure that carers can get support. The Race Equality Foundation was pleased to be asked to participate in an advisory group for Carers UK to help produce this good practice guide briefing on how to offer inclusive support.
This briefing highlights good practice across the UK in supporting Black, Asian and minority ethnic unpaid carers. Unpaid carers are people who provide support for an ill, older or disabled family member or friend.
We suggest reading this briefing alongside the Carers UK research briefing the experiences of Black, Asian and minority ethnic carers during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic which looks at the evidence on how Black, Asian and minority ethnic carers have been affected by the pandemic.
When comparing the experiences of carers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to White carers, the research found that carers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds were:
• more anxious about their current financial situation
• more likely to be impacted by the closure of local services
• more likely to state that the services in their area did not meet their needs.
This good practice briefing highlights examples of projects and organisations, across the health, social care and charity sectors, which are working to support ethnic minority carers in a number of ways:
• Providing information and advice
• Providing culturally sensitive services
• Improving health and wellbeing
• Improving staff awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion.
This briefing also makes several recommendations to support organisations working with Black, Asian and ethnic minority carers. These include a number of practical suggestions designed to encourage organisations to take action to support Black, Asian and ethnic minority carers.
