PP-15 Supporting unpaid carers caring for friends and family with palliative and life limiting illnesses- reflections on starting a support group

<h3>Background</h3> Unpaid carers are relied upon by health and social care services to support friends and family with palliative and life limiting illnesses.¹ Offering services that promote carer wellbeing whilst supporting them to provide care for their friends and relatives is therefore an important area for palliative care services to consider.² <h3>Methods</h3> A collaborative multi-professional evidence-based approach was used to design a support group for unpaid carers. This combined the experiences of clinicians with the evidence identified through a scoping review undertaken as part of the authors PhD project. The importance of peer support and the need for the group to differ from other established support groups was highlighted. The scoping review considered what unpaid carers found impacted their resilience when providing end of life care at home and found that timely and accurate information were particularly beneficial to unpaid carer resilience. This led to the development of a monthly unpaid carers group aimed specifically at unpaid carers who are providing support to a friend or family member with a palliative or progressive life limiting illness. The group aims to provide peer support alongside accurate and timely information from a range of palliative care professionals. <h3>Results</h3> The group has been running monthly since September 2023 with six unpaid carers regularly attending. A second group was launched in September 2024 with a focus on carer wellbeing. <h3>Conclusion</h3> The overwhelming positive response from the unpaid carers and staff has confirmed the need for this specific support group. Offering both peer support and accurate timely information appears to meet the needs of this population. <h3>Impact</h3> The impact of creating a space for peer conversation - centred on the practical skills carers have learnt and the emotions they experience as they support a loved one towards death has been noticeable. <h3>References</h3> Higgerson J, Ewing G, Rowland C, Grande G. The current state of caring for family carers in UK hospices: findings from the hospice UK organisational survey of carer assessment and support. [Internet]. Hospice UK; 2019 [cited 2023 Jan 3]. Available from: https://www.hospiceuk.org/publications-and-resources/current-state-caring-family-carers-uk-hospices Carers UK (2023) Valuing carers 2021. Available from: valuing-carers-report.pdf (carersuk.org)