Care first is often perceived as a support mechanism that only offers emotional support through counselling but this isn’t the only support type Care first is able to help with. Stress and anxiety can often be caused by ongoing practical issues in our everyday life. This might be around your work, childcare issues and legal issues and so on. The issues that we experience on a regular basis can often seem daunting and cause a lot of stress and anxiety if we don’t know how best to resolve them – this is where Care first is also able to support.
Not only do we offer emotional support through counselling, but we also offer practical advice on how to resolve these sorts of practical issues. Our team of Telephone Information Specialists are able to advise you the best steps and give you guidance on how best to resolve the issue you’re having.
Who are the Telephone Information Specialists?
Care first has a team of information specialists who answer inbound calls to Care first for people looking for practical advice. All of the Telephone Information Specialists are Citizen Advice trained and are able to advise on a huge range of topics. These include but are not limited to:
- Benefits
- Childcare information
- Consumer advice
- Debt
- Divorce/separation
- Education
- Eldercare information
- Employment
- Health/medical
- Housing
- Law/Legal information
- Retirement
- Substance abuse
- Tax queries
How will they help?
The Telephone Information Specialist’s will speak to you and ask questions to fully understand the situation you’re in. They will then guide you through the best next steps, explain what available resources will be helpful to you, they may also signpost you to appropriate websites or organisations that can also help. They will make a note of the issues and what has been discussed so if you call again a Telephone Information Specialist can pick up where you left off. This is especially useful if you need to go away and follow some steps and then call back for additional guidance.
How do I speak with a Telephone Information Specialist?
It’s really easy to speak with a Telephone Information Specialist, just call your organisations EAP Freephone telephone number, you will be given the option to hold and speak with a counsellor, or ‘press 1’ to speak with a Telephone information Specialist. Once you have pressed ‘1’ your call will be sent to the Telephone Information Specialists. They are available Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm so bear this in mind when calling.
Is it confidential?
Yes. The service is complete confidential. Despite this support being offered by your organisation Care first is separate entity and we don’t share any identifiable information with any third parties or even your organisation. You are able to call and speak with a counsellor or a Telephone Information Specialists without anyone ever knowing or finding out. There are only three very exceptional circumstances in which we would be forced to break confidentiality, which is when there is threat to the life of another person, a child protection or vulnerable adult issues or a risk to the security of the organisation.
More information
If you would like to view the Webinar on ‘Practical information and advice through Care first’ this is being delivered live on Monday 11th July at 12:00pm-12:30pm, please use the following link to register for this session –
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8974334176604690192
If you are unable to join the webinar live, a recording of the session can be accessed using the same link above after the webinar has taken place.
If you feel you may need some support, you can contact Care first. Care first is a leading provider of confidential, professional counselling, information and advice services. All employees are eligible to use Care first, our services include; telephone counselling, information services and online support.
Call Care first on the Freephone number provided by your organisation and
you can speak to a professional in confidence.