This week is Carers Week which is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK.

The campaign is brought to life by thousands of individuals and organisations who come together to organise activities and events throughout the UK, drawing attention to just how important caring is.

This year, the focus is on Building Carer Friendly Communities. Communities which support carers to look after their loved ones well, while recognising that they are individuals with needs of their own.

Millions of people in the UK who care for sick, elderly or disabled friends or relatives are missing out on life chances because of a lack of support from those around them.

According to the charity Carers UK, more than 6.5 million people voluntarily look after a loved one; but a lack of understanding about their role means many see their own health decline or are forced to give up work or cut their hours.

All of us will have our lives touched by caring at some point: 3 in 5 of us will be carers in our lifetime and many of us will also need care in our lifetime!

On Thursday 9th June, there is going to be a debate on carers in the House of Commons sponsored by Mims Davies MP. It is important that carers’ voices are heard by MPs so Carers Week will be hosting a ‘digital debate’ on Facebook. 

Don’t miss your chance to hear the views and opinions voiced by carers. Click on the following link to connect you to the digital debate on Thursday 9^th June, starting at 9.30am.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/5010e040-5020-4e92-94e9-5346583de802

It is a real challenge for many carers to balance their employed work with being a carer, but having both is so very important. It can be very difficult to juggle the two.

In a recent study of more than 6,000 carers, 50% had let a health problem go untreated or seen their mental health get worse. Fewer than 33% said they only received the help they needed when there was an emergency, while just under 50% said they struggle financially.

Individuals, organisations and government are being called upon to think about what they can do to improve the lives of carers in their community.

A carer’s life can have a profound improvement when they are supported by their local services and communities; whether that’s being offered a flexible appointment to see their GP, have flexible working policies from their employers or their local schools raising awareness of caring and disability.

Unfortunately, most local communities do not support their carers, which in turn is having a significant and negative impact on their lives.

OLDER CARERS

The main barriers that older carers find prevent them from maintaining a healthy lifestyle:

• Almost a half (49%) of older carers said that their GP practice hasn’t informed them about how to get practical support as a carer.
  
  
• 44% of older carers reported that their GP practice hadn’t offered them an annual health check.
  
  
• A third (33%) say that they haven’t received any training or information to help them keep well.
  
  
• Only 38% of older carers said that they live in a community that supports and understands them.

For older carers, it is especially important that they get to health tests, check-ups and specialist appointments as when they are unable to it has very negative consequences for their health.

Any impact could have worse consequences for older carers because it will come on top of issues that affect those later on in life such as increased number of long term health conditions, reduced social networks and increased isolation and loneliness.

As more services or access to services move solely online, some older carers will also be at a disadvantage.

 In the past 10 years there has been a 128% increase in carers aged over 85!

LATEST UPDATES

Inadequate support from health services is damaging life chances of UK’s carers

The life chances of many of the 6.5 million people in the UK who care, unpaid, for a disabled, older or ill family member or friend, are being damaged by inadequate support from health services. Read more... 

Building Carer Friendly Communities: research report

The Care Week 2016 research report presents key findings on Carer Friendly Communities across five themes: community, health, employment, education and older carers. The research for this report was carried out as part of Carers UK annual State of Caring Survey. A total of 6,149 carers and former carers responded to Carers UK’s annual State of Caring Survey between March and April 2016. 

Carers Week: Wellbeing Event

Do you care for a family member or friend? Come and join us for an afternoon of relaxation and information. FREE meditation, relaxation and mindfulness sessions, beauty and holistic treatments, or try the laughter yoga!

SUPPORT CARERS WEEK 2016 – MAKE IT ONE YOU WILL REMEMBER!

Please have a look at our free Dementia Guide if you're interested in raising awareness for Dementia and Alzheimer's