How might Caring affect me?
maybe strong and confident. You may feel as though you are quite alone as it is not always easy to know or meet others in the same situation. As a Young Adult Carer, you might be involved in personal care or emotional support for the person you care for, domestic tasks or general care. It might be difficult to manage your caring role with school, college or work and you may feel isolated and that friends don’t understand what you are going through. Or you might feel your caring role has made you more confident.
Being a Carer comes with as many positives as negatives. Sadly, only the negatives are often reported.
Caring can sometimes have a negative impact on your own health and well-being. Carers rarely spend time looking after their own health and well-being and can too easily get caught up in caring for someone else.
Parent Carer
Carers will often report that their lives are affected in several ways. This includes their ability to be able to work or engage in volunteering/meaningful activity, an increase in stress levels and worry, a reduced level of social and physical engagement such as going for a walk, and a general sense of overwhelming responsibility. Carers also experience something called anticipatory grief when they are supporting someone with a long-term health condition. But you need to care for yourself too, this is vital. Maintaining your own health and well-being will enable you to continue Caring. You are just as important as them. Carer Statistics The 2021 Census estimated the number of unpaid Carers was 5 million in England and Wales. This, together with ONS Census data for Scotland and Northern Ireland, suggests that the number of unpaid Carers across the UK is 5.7 million equating to around 9% of population are providing unpaid care. Carers UK research in 2022 estimated the number of unpaid Carers could be as high as 10.6 million (Carers UK, Carers Week 2022 research report). The latest census showed there are 31,769 unpaid Carers in West Northamptonshire area and 28,909 in North Northamptonshire. Section 2 – Caring for... Mental Health
A parent Carer is someone who provides support to their child, including grown-up children, who cannot manage without their help due to illness, disability, or mental health issues. Often parent Carers of children and young people don’t use the word ‘Carer’. They may not have considered that the support they provide is above and beyond the norm of a parent. Former Carer A Former Carer is someone who through bereavement has lost the person they cared for. It is possible for someone to be both a Former Carer and an active Carer for someone else.
Your rights as a Carer
www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/guides-and- tools/your-guide-to-the-care-act-england
Under this Act, the following expectations are supported.
• The right not to be discriminated against or harassed under the Equality Act. • The right to choose whether or not to be a Carer. • The right to self-determine willingness and ability to care. • The right to be supported to identify which of the cared-for needs you might be willing and able to support. • The right for the Carer’s views to be considered by Social Services when organizing provision for the cared-for person. • The right to a free flu vaccine. • The right to be identified as a Carer. • The right to have your well-being considered both emotionally and physically. • The right to be able to integrate within the community and access services. • The right to have access to advice and information to support you and the cared for. • The right to have a Carer Assessment (details of what this entails can be found in Section 3).
People experiencing a mental health illness is reported to currently affect 1 in 4 people. Caring for someone with a mental health condition can often feel different to other caring roles and you may face slightly different or additional challenges. Often this is where people do not see themselves
as a Carer when supporting someone with Mental Health. This is why it is important when caring for someone with a mental health condition that you access support for you in your caring role. You may face lots of change and it may be that no two days look the same. Your caring role may also come and go. It can, therefore, be difficult for people who support someone with a mental health condition to recognise their caring role and how it differs from ‘being there’ for their relative or friend.
The invisibility of Mental Health can often make you feel that you are not a Carer, you are.
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