Social workers have a responsibility to do everything in their power to ease the ‘burden’ of caring and preserve unpaid family carers’ health as their efforts make an invaluable contribution which saves the economy £132 billion per year (Carers UK, 2015a). The aid provided by unpaid carers enables vulnerable adults to live independently within their own home; which not only promotes better health outcomes for them, but it is cost-effective for society. Interventions demonstrating these type of results are crucial as the social sector is on the brink of collapse due to the issues of an aging and unhealthy population, coupled with cuts in services forced through austerity measures (Buckner and Yeandle, 2011). The government has been pushed into acknowledging in law the importance of maintaining carers’ well-being, who are now classed as an indispensable element of the social care sector. In an attempt to keep carers productive within their role, recent legislation has given soaring numbers of carers established rights which they can access with the help of social workers. Social workers have various resources at their disposal which …show more content…
Contentment is obtained from services which reflect carer’s desires, as opposed to offerings based on availability (Community Care, 2007). Thus, social workers’ aim for an outcomes assessment which is empowering as the actual care plan is shaped around the carer’s actual aspirations, as well as being effective for gaining a clear understanding of the carer’s specific circumstances, (Nicholas, 2001). However, Carter (2016) claims that carer’s wishes are sometimes met with reluctance because ‘asset-based practice’ is forcing social workers into having to look towards utilising strengths as a cheaper