Contact&Connect is an automated telephony platform which allows adult social care teams to keep in regular contact with service users, as well as unpaid carers. Under the Care Act there is a responsibility on councils to undertake carer assessments and actively engage with carers to support them to live the life they want. Whilst identifying unpaid carers can be hard, engaging with them is much more simple with our automated approach. We are able to script specific questions and generate both calls and texts to carers to regularly check in with them, and bring their feedback into the system – not only to support them and the person they care for – but to the service more widely. 

There are three core benefits of the Contact&Connect: Carer approach. Firstly, being able to proactively send out links to relevant information and advice, videos on how to use certain pieces of equipment, details of local support groups, etc – all based on the answers they provide. The second key benefit is around prevention, and supporting carers to know who to contact if they have a problem. By using the automated approach we are able to ensure carers have the right contact details and information to support them when things get tough. 

Finally, with the guidance around proportionate assessments, the calls can help to triage carer assessments and reviews. By scheduling calls directly after a carer assessment and prior to a review, we can ask very specific questions around being supported & heard, social isolation, being safe & able, being involved in care package decisions and more. The answers to these core questions then determines whether the carer requires a social worker led review, or a more proportionate approach. The benefits of supporting carers better are significant, from helping them to be more engaged with the wider community, being supported to continue in education and employment, knowing their rights and what benefits they might be entitled to, having training on equipment they may use, as well as being heard in the conversations about care packages for the person they care for and their role validated  – and much more.