Maud Hevink

| 187 7 challenging as there was a perceived lack of signposting to services. This led some informal caregivers to feel there was no help available. I did seek help and it wasn’t there. (informal caregiver 2) Most informal caregivers tended to actively seek information to signpost them within the social care system. They identified numerous ways to improve awareness of services and signposting. A named point of contact (for example an admiral nurse, the local council, or their general practitioner) could help to signpost them to the relevant information and local services that were perceived to operate under the radar. In addition, social care workers noted that sometimes informal caregivers did not know what supports are available or what social care support can do for them. They identified education around dementia and services as an important need for informal caregivers. I am very mindful that a lot of organisations want to produce this information and still over the years people will say, the information is not available. And, actually, a lot of the time the information is available, but they are not aware of it or it’s not accessible. (care worker 5) The bureaucracy of the social care system The bureaucratic nature of the social care system presented significant barriers to accessing social support. The assessment procedures were stressful and informal caregivers felt they had to keep repeating the same information, perceived a lack of transparency or did not trust that the support would fulfil their care needs. A major issue encountered by informal caregivers was the complexity of navigating different financial matters and systems. Some informal caregivers indicated they did not qualify for social care due to having financial means and investigated options for paying for care privately, but this was rarely deemed a viable option due to the high costs. Navigating social care was deemed so challenging that some informal caregivers were ready to give up on social care completely. It’s been very stressful. It’s been very annoying, and I can’t seem to fight my way through the bureaucracy of it all, even though I’m mastered in bureaucracy. (informal caregiver 14)

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