Tag: carers awareness

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Spreading the word about Carers

The following blog is by Sara Challice, award-winning author of ‘Who Cares? – How to care for yourself whilst caring for a loved one.’

Have you heard of Health and Wellbeing boards? No, I hadn’t either, until I was asked to be on one a few years ago to represent carers within my borough of Richmond.

There are 153 Health and Wellbeing boards across the country, and their purpose is to establish collaborative decision making, planning and commissioning across councils and the NHS, informed by the views of patients, people who use services and other partners.

At present, I believe I am the only one on one of these boards, but we need a Carer Representative on every board – to ensure carers are represented across the UK, and are considered and supported within the various upcoming papers and proposals. Because if there is a paper on residents living with long-term health conditions, you can guarantee there will be a carer behind the scenes supporting them – but carers can often still be overlooked.

Please do get in touch with your local council and ask your Health and Wellbeing board if they have a Carer Representative.

Supporting Working Carers

Did you know 600 working carers quit every day due to the insufficient support? And inadequate support for working carers costs UK businesses £8.2bn every year.

But there is a better way.

Businesses Virgin Media O2 and Sainsburys recognise carers in their workplace need support, and I give online sessions supporting staff caring for loved ones. Often given during lunchtime hours, these invaluable sessions allow space for carers to learn self care tips, insight and psychology to help them become more resilient and regain balance, whilst juggling work with caring. These sessions can also include their line manager, so there is a learned experience for all, creating a supportive collaboration within the workplace, allowing for better communication.

Sharing Learned Experiences

Have you heard of Caregivers Burnout, the Helper’s High or Compassion Fatigue?

This invaluable insight, and much more, is shared in my sessions to support those caring for loved ones. Whilst engaging carers, I share stories and tips to help improve their health and wellbeing, and each session focusses on a particular topic, helping them gain clarity on all that is happening to and around them, whilst they take back control and find ways to enjoy their lives again – guilt free.

Of recent, carers have been asking for a session on, ‘Preparing for life after caring,’ because often, we just never know when our caring role may suddenly come to an end.

What can carers expect, and what steps can they put in place now to safeguard their own needs for when this big life event occurs? In this particular session, I share my own experience during my transitions once my caring role had come to an end, and I share insight and strategies to help carers with their transition, creating resilience whilst boosting their own health & wellbeing.

“I so could have done with this information. It would have made life so much easier!” – says Sara

Finally, Sara is giving a keynote speech in London for Carers First, a charity supporting carers over a number of counties. In sharing insight and knowledge, the event brings together trustees, staff and volunteers to collaborate, celebrate and plan for the future.

“Sara has delivered many online sessions for Carers UK, and we were delighted when she ran a series of Wisdom to Empower sessions for us, which were some of our highest attended online meet ups of the year.  The sessions were highly valued by the carers, providing them with vital support during one of the most challenging times of their lives. Sara shared lots of tips and insight to help them gain the clarity to make positive changes in their lives and maintain wellbeing – not only for themselves, but for those they care for.” – Michael Shann, Head of Membership and Volunteering, Carers UK

Read the first chapter of ‘Who Cares?’ for free here and to get in touch with Sara to learn more about her engaging sessions for carers, please email sara@whocares4carers.com, or to learn more of her expert information, advice and support, transforming the lives of carers, go to www.whocares4carers.com

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Ending lockdown for people with dementia and their carers

Blog post written by Mary Jordan, author of ‘The Essential Carer’s Guide’ and ‘The Essential Carer’s Guide to Dementia’.

 

If lockdown has been hard for many people, then emerging from lockdown may cause its own problems! Many have been made so afraid of infection that they have refrained from taking steps back into society again even when this was allowed. I have clients who tell me that they have not left their home for over a year. Many are really afraid to visit their GP (even when they can get an appointment) or to go to the hospital for important outpatient appointments. Some have avoided dental checks or eyesight appointments.

Carers know instinctively that routine is good for those with dementia – they find it easier to cope when there is a set pattern to the day and more difficult to cope when their routine is upset. This past year has disrupted many lives. Routines of social interaction have been interrupted and disturbed. Familiar visitors have stopped visiting. Family have kept their distance. Even those of us who are able to understand the reasoning behind the disrupted routines have been disturbed and depressed – how much more difficult for those unable to understand what is happening?

I have found it quite disconcerting when people have told me that they have become ‘used to’ staying at home and are reluctant to go out and meet others because I know that meeting up with other people, talking, touching and mixing are very important for those with dementia. Perhaps it is easy to forget how vital such activities are for carers too.

The Cognitive Stimulation Therapy groups that I run have been able to continue (under Covid-secure guidelines) since September and people have been very grateful for this, but the Dementia Café has not been allowed to run and carers have told me that they really missed this facility. It seems that the simple chance to meet along with the person they are caring for, in an informal social setting was considered by many to be a lifeline.

Now, hopefully things are changing again and we can once more meet up with family, friends and supporters.  I feel it is important to embrace this new ‘opening up’ of society both for people with dementia and for their carers. But perhaps we should also take note of the fact that life can change suddenly and unexpectedly and that things can happen that are beyond our control. We cannot plan for every contingency but we can all remain open to considering change and accepting the need to adapt – and this is particularly true when caring for someone with dementia.

 

‘Solutions in Dementia’ by Mary Jordan (due in 2022) addresses the many occasions of dramatic change that can happen as dementia progresses and highlights some solutions that have been found helpful.