Trevor Clower

Trevor Clower

Hello, I an unpaid Carer...
I have a son born with a learning disability & autism, aged 48. I have been his carer for 48 years & counting...
I aim is to improve the lives of all unpaid Carers...

Location Nottingham England

Achievements

Activity

  • @elainaark Thank you Elaina ... the more people see it the better ... very much appreciated ...

  • @DavidBatchelor The CCG's never took off at street level David, no one knew who they were, but they did have some knowledge of the spot contractors I have spoken about earlier... but now that NHS England decision to gel all the CCG's into just one CCG per City/County, they have lost touch with the spot contractors too ... leaving them out in the cold and...

  • @DavidBatchelor the CCG only look at the care providers on their own recommended list... care providers that can afford to go through a very lengthy process to get on the list... the small spot contract care providers are not on the list but operate at street level giving very personalized care at local level, these are the stallholders at the roadshows...

  • @ClaireW I agree the Care Act helped to put the plight of the unpaid Carers in the spotlight Claire... but passing a law dose little the change attitudes alas.... their are laws against stealing, but people still steal... Getting the decision makers to adhere to this law is a struggle...

  • By getting access to the decision makers, I can carry on telling my story and the ideas I have floated over the years and the outcomes I have achieved over the years in helping people access support by improving the way we communicate, communication being the key to all originations, enabling them to be effective at street level. My bottom up approach can...

  • what a loved best about Rob & Debs video, was the rewarding feeling they had when other professionals took them to one side to express their thanks and admit to them that theirs was the story they would take away with them.
    That is a real result on so many levels...

  • I feel confident that doing steps 1 & 2 will help me push through to steps 3 & 4 to take full advantage of the doors it will open for me to further my ambition to make a real difference in the long term to helping people to get the support they desperately need, to realize their dreams.

  • the booklet is a mine of good information ... a must have booklet to have at hand all the time...

  • Trevor Clower made a comment

    Steps 1 & 2 on this course have been an eye opener in many ways, even to an old dog like me.
    It has given me insight into a very complicated system called the NHS and all of its twists and turns.
    But is has give the insight in very easy to swallow bite size pieces, enabling me to make sense as to the reasons why its complicated as well as showing me ways to...

  • very useful links

  • Bravery and commitment go hand it hand Daisy ... you have it in you if you can get through this course...

  • do your research and fine the small care providers in you locality Caroline ... there will be many you can refer to ...

  • very much so Aly, looking after yourself has to be your number one priority. But you also have to realize that you will only be able to please a some of the people some of the time, when what you really want to do is please everyone all of the time, but human nature is unpredictable at best. I run roadshows offering free support and if we only help one person...

  • I have to agree completely, trying to do everything is bad for your own health and wellbeing, but also spreading yourself thin will only result in you being less effective Racheal.
    I was in your position too and the only way I got through it was by letting go of some of my commitments, leaving me more focused and much more effective in the long term, well...

  • I agree, barriers are often unreasonable and unnecessary, but researching the small care providers locally can be a positive way of circumnavigating barriers I find.

  • get well soon Andrew, we need people like you out there showing a way through the fog of uncertainty ...

  • lending an ear and listening to a persons story is all that is needed to give some comfort and recognition to their plight..

  • Try finding a few small care providers that will lead you to a care provider that is right for you to signpost to or start up your own carers roadshow, its not that hard, everyone volunteer's their video for my roadshows... here is a link just go see... https://bit.ly/2K6AsBZ

  • Having developed a Carers Roadshow, over the last 8 years, it has created a target on my back for anyone who needs help and advice.
    Handling this was surprisingly easy, as I used my connections I had developed for the roadshows, which there are many care providers out their in the wings waiting for people to contact them and for me to signpost to.
    All...

  • I am promoting the idea of every meeting, including board meetings, should have a story told at the beginning of the meeting.
    The story can be told live in person, or on video, but not read out by someone who has no relationship with the person and definitely not shown as a document for the meeting to read before the meeting takes place.
    For two main...

  • My motivation to come on this course is to try to improve my understanding of the bigger picture systems, but even more important how to get to talk with the decision makers at the strategic planning stage...
    Not, learning about what they are going to do next, because it matters not what I think, its a done lead by then, and they are going ahead with it...

  • Not so much a question, more like a reality check...
    Illness happens without notice, as dose the realization that you will become a Patient & the person closest to you will be thrust into being an unpaid & unprepared Carer/Family/Friend... the illness will effect everyone...
    The realization is the 5 sequences of events that will effect all unpaid Carers of...

  • Being an unpaid carer will effect every corner of your life....

  • Helping someone is enabling them to continue with their skills, by taking away some of the stress they have in their life... things outside of their control will effect their ability to cope with what is important to them... finding the problem is finding their need at that time, making support in that area both effective & rewarding ...
    I was helped in a...

  • Passing a law like the Care Act is just a regulation.. it dose not mean it will be effective in changing things... it only opens up the debate on whether one should adopt it or not... creating more talk and little action as it stands at the moment in 2020 in my own opinion ...

  • The main key feature for me was... Getting locally sauced support for the Patients... This support is often little known by the authorities & the CCG...
    Here an example of the support offered in Nottingham for the Patient/Carer/Family/Friend ... https://bit.ly/2K6AsBZ
    The key features missing the needs of the Carer/Family/Friend of the Patients is a...

  • Maybe an extra key would be to recognize the strength and needs of the Whole family unit .. looking at the Patient, Carer, Family & Friends ... as these are the people most effected by the illness... Valuing their skills will make Personalized Care most effective for the Patients during the illness and during discharge & recovery too...

  • Patients & their Carer/Family/Friends need to know what is available locally in the way of support to help with the stresses they are all under...
    Without this knowledge of what is available locally, how can they make an informed decision on how to go forward with their health & wellbeing ...

  • I am looking forward to see the way its all being implemented for EVERYONE ... there is so much need out there, it has to be done at pace and be effective and fully accessible to EVERYONE ... we have a disaster in the making, everything has to change with this urgency in mine, don't wait till it's perfect because it will never be perfect, adjust the...

  • I do feel there are two things missing from the view expressed in the video..
    ONE.. Effective Communication is very hard to achieve, Google Active Listening is a very effective way of listening & understanding what is being said..
    TWO.. There is no mention of collaborating with the Patients Carer/family/friend... You have to understand that any illness...

  • story's tell it as it is not as it should be...
    It's effective because it's real and its happened or happening, it not an assumed theory or a planned outcome...
    Basically it puts meat on the bone for the decision makers to take into consideration when making plans or strategy's to produce a meaningful outcome from their investment...

  • this Dr Knows Best attitude is quite strong on some areas of the NHS, but not all areas, this shows a change is taking place, but its time line is unknown and its permanency is not clear yet either. But change is talking place!

  • I first met Charlette & Tom when they joined My Life's Choices Group, they are both just as impressive in real life as they are in the video.
    Getting to know their options was key to making the right decisions, but it also gives you heads up on where the barriers are. This is where being fully informed helps to make any changes positive for the future in the...

  • Being an unpaid carer for my son, who was born with a learning disability and autism, all his life, dealing with the social services and the NHS has been an experience I would not recommend to anyone. I liken dealing with the services to stumbling UP a cliff.
    So I centered my passion to getting support for all unpaid carers, who would benefit from all the...

  • as an unpaid carer, who is retired in 2009 and works for no one, I have been invited to more and more groups and committees within the NHS structure, than ever before. At first I was just ticking a box, having a carer Involvment was a part of the NHS strategies. But over the last 3 to 4 years my presents at these meetings has produced a lot of interest in my...

  • attitudes have nothing to do how clever a person is or their qualifications, its all down to their personal experiences with a person they know that has a disability. So although these are positive moves in the right direction, it is slow to take effect in the short term & even slower in the long term.
    National initiatives to make it more visible, all too...

  • the 21 century has made huge inroads with the disability rights act & the equality act too... but it failed to address the inequalities within mental health & is still struggling for recognition today. The stigma around mental ill health is still a barrier, only being bolted on as an after thought when new policies & procedures are written up... there is a...

  • The social modal of disability is forming so painfully slow... it's like one step forward and two steps back in many ways... a determination to make a permanent difference has to take place at a high level...

  • Hello I am an unpaid carer & an active volunteer & founder of the Carers Road Show, that are a collection of stall offering different types of support to unpaid carers to help them have one foot in real life as well as continue to be effective carers... I am on this course to better my knowledge and communication skills....I also sit on various committees and...

  • I have learned how to talk about Personalized Care and Personal Budgets in a step by step way to achieve a level of clarity that can be understood clearly by people I talk to. Drawing on the positive ways it effects & improves peoples lives, both Patient & their family, as well as the Professional satisfaction seeing a positive outcome.

  • See all the information in one place has enabled me to draw a very positive picture of Personalized Care, giving me the confidence to talk about it in relative detail.

  • There is always room for improvement in knowing things, but the biggest impact for me was learning how many professionals are on board with this idea of a personalized budget. Judging from the amount of good outcomes in all the presentations, it shows there is light at the end of this tunnel of redirecting funds to suit the patients needs.

  • Over the last 4 weeks I have realized that to uphold a persons Health & Wellbeing takes people on each side to collaborate effectively, openly & honestly.
    The professionals are highly skilled in treating the health of a person.
    The Patient & unpaid Carer are highly skilled in treating the wellbeing of a person, with their lived experience.
    Together,...

  • Personal Health Budgets gives the Patient & Carers the freedom to spend the resources that makes a definite difference in the patients life now & for their future. It also allows the Patient & Carers to make their dreams come true, enabling them to use their flare & imagination to improve on their expectations for the future too.
    Turning a negative...

  • As a patient, asking the right questions enables the patient to express themselves & highlight the things that they want in their life, as well as giving them the confidence to speak out.
    Being actively listened too, gives the patient the time to make themselves understood.
    As a unpaid carer, personalized care gives them the opportunity to, not only be...

  • A PCSP used to be called a PCP, (Person Centered Plan)
    What should be understood by everyone, professionals as well as family, is that the PCSP is owned by the person its supporting, its their voice and should be heard as such & not manipulated to suit what support is available.
    Give them what support you can, but always show its not everything they want, a...

  • This is a great video & thank you Vicky for showing us your glowing smile & confidence, you seem like your unstoppable.
    Peer support is something that you just sit back & watch it happen. Its not a process as such, more like a human thing that takes place when like minded people & people with similar circumstances, get together.
    It shows the strength of...

  • I could see the confidence Debs has & her passion in believing in herself, very powerful indeed.
    I have a son born with a learning disability, & it took a long time to learn how to motivate him into being confident. The answer was very simple really, listen without judging & allow him to make his own mistakes safely, which allowed him to learn more...

  • the choice of hospital was a surprise to me..

  • Debs Journey is very moving, it make me look at no matter how bad things seem to be, there is a light at the end of the tunnel with the right support. It shows just how critical support is, some think its something you just add on if you can remember, support dose make a real difference.

  • Be prepared to be completely honest with the professional and yourself too...
    If your not sure, then sleep on it before you decide either way...
    Be brave...

  • I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in January 2017. The discussion with the surgeon, who was willing to take me on, explained that he thinks he can do a great job on me but I need to know the risks. I was over weight, over 70 years old and type 2 diabetic, so now we both know where we stand, you can make a choice, but my recommendation was to have the operation...

  • Having knowledge of what choices of health treatment is available to you will help improve personal choice. Good communication between the community as a whole has be key, to ensure you get access to the choices you have. Personal choice improves the cost effectiveness of treatment and reaches towards a more positive outcome overall .

  • I have a question, is there any data on the amount of patients who qualify for a personalized care budget that only get around £50 a month & their left to fend for themselves with hopefully an unpaid Carer to help make it stretch towards some of the needs of the patient. I am meeting these people all the time in poverty stricken Nottingham, the poorest...

  • At the age of 71, never had a knife on my body in my life & a visit to the doctor was only once or twice a year at the most.
    In January 2017 I developed bowl cancer, on 16th February 2017, I had my first operation, 9 hours long, cutting out the cancer & fitting me with a colectomy bag permanently. Life changing in the extreme.
    I had my operation in the...

  • Michell's video in a testament showing what can be done, in the face of such difficulty. How, not only dose Michell deserve to have a life like we all have, it can be achieved with flare & imagination that the system did not have. Learning is a two way street for both the clinical & non clinical people involved in supporting a persons life. This is portrayed...

  • Hello Jo, you do such a great job with Michell, you can see that in his face throughout the video, which I have viewed a few times now over the last year or so. I agree with everything you say & do, but my fear is that the powers that be might start to look at unpaid Carers as the cheaper option, when looking at funding. Now we are living with Covid19, I think...

  • Having a none clinical background, & that I am retired & work for no one, & my only lived experience is being an unpaid Carer.
    Increasing my confidence in having up-to-date information will enable me to be more persuasive in a debate with the decision makers within the NHS system overall.

  • Two reasons:
    1. To make sure my knowledge is up-to-date, in this ever changing world.
    2. To improve my knowledge, to see how I may be able to make it fit the needs of the unpaid Carers.

  • Hello I am an unpaid Carer, my background is creating & running businesses both in the UK & abroad. I have a son who was born with a learning disability & autism, he is 48 years old, I have been his unpaid Carer all his life. Retired in 2009 I became a volunteer & found going to 150 meetings a year, things, frustratingly, moved at a glacial pace. I found next...