Who Cares

 Carers are at the heart of today’s families and communities. In a society where people are living longer, many are developing long-term clinical conditions and the majority aspire to maintain their independence an increasing number of us will find ourselves taking on a caring role at some point in our lives.
Many people, mainly women, are now balancing work, childcare and caring for an ageing parent. Increasing numbers of older people often care for their partner while providing childcare for grandchildren, and parents of children with complex health needs know that they will be ‘lifetime’ carers. Furthermore, the positive shift to independent living and care at home, away from institutionalisation, will continue to require a greater contribution from carers.
Over the next 10 years, there will be significant demographic and social changes. In a world where, through advances in medicine, people survive with complex health conditions, live longer and have multiple needs, the demand for care will continue to grow. Changes in family life, increased numbers of single-member households and geographical dispersion within families, will also have an impact on the availability of carers.
Significantly the number of people over 85 in the UK, the age group most likely to need care, is expected to increase by over 50 per cent to 1.9 million over the next decade.
There are currently 6 million carers in the UK, on in ten of the population, with over 1 million people caring for over 50 hours per week.
This means there are likely to be over ten thousand carers in Wyre the majority of which are caring for older residents or are themselves older carers. 

Roles and Responsibilities

The traditional source of care and support continues to be the family. The best environment for the person being supported is very often their normal social environment, their home.
However, family life has changed over the last 50 or so years. The move to smaller nuclear families means that it is no longer as easy to share the caring role as widely as in the past.
The challenge we face is balancing the increase in the number of people needing care and the ready availability of those friends and family members able and willing to provide it.
Society needs to encourage and help those many individuals who wish to help and support those they care for.
The government has a key role in improving the health and wellbeing of carers and those that they support. This is also true of the mainstream statutory services, including the NHS, DWP and local authorities. 
Wider society also has a part to play, largely through recognition. It is important to recognise the vital role played by carers in providing large amounts of care and support, so saving the state a great deal of money, and the value to society of supporting carers.
Employers also have a key role to play in recognising the valuable contribution that those with caring responsibilities can continue to make to the workplace and the economy. By acknowledging the specific needs of carers, employers can retain their experienced staff, and avoid the costs of recruiting and training new employees, as well as increasing employee loyalty. This has the added benefit of allowing carers to maintain their current and future income while enabling a life outside of caring.
Finally, the role of the individual is to recognise that caring for a family member, friend or partner is one of the responsibilities we all potentially face as part of family life. A key advantage to the provision of care by a family member, friend or partner is that such an approach can result in personalised, responsive, expert and high-quality care that is in the best interests of the person being supported

What is Happening 

In 2008 a wide ranging consultation on the future of carers identified those issues most relevant to improving the lives of carers today including access to services, ensuring that carers have a life of their own, income and employment and their health and wellbeing.
Overall, the consultation received the views of over 4,000 carers and what they said is summarised below:
Services
There is a lack of co-ordinated services centred on carers’ needs. Carers are looking for greater personalisation of services and greater cohesion between services. The current system frustrates and annoys carers and there is a need to streamline the process across the board;
Many carers said that it was important for professionals to have a greater understanding about the role that carers have, and that we should ensure that carers’ circumstances and needs are taken into account when they receive services.

A life of their own
When a person becomes a carer they give up many of the opportunities that non
carers take for granted. Carers’ lives also become increasingly synonymous with the person they care for, which limits the opportunities they have for a life outside their caring role
Planned breaks can make a huge difference to full-time carers but you need to be confident that the quality of respite care is good.

Income and Employment
Carer’s Allowance does not reflect the work which goes into caring.
As Carers are already isolated, if they do not have money then they are unable to make the most of life.
While it is difficult to work, as carers have limited flexibility, some carers cannot work even when they want to as this can compromise Carer’s Allowance.

Health and Wellbeing
Your health is ‘postponed’ if you are a carer and they themselves need help in coping with the emotional strain that comes with caring.
It is important for GPs to know how to react to carers’ problems with health and other issues.

The strategic response to this consultation is a vision for carers that will ensure:
• carers are respected as expert care partners and have access to the integrated and personalised services they need to support them in their caring role.
• carers should be able to have a life of their own alongside their caring role.
• carers should be supported so that they are not forced into financial hardship by their caring role.
• carers should be supported to stay mentally and physically well and be treated with dignity.

Members of both Wyre Pensioner and Wyre Senior forums met recently to explore the gap between this vision and the current reality in Wyre and what should and could be done to close the gap.
Please visit our Campaign section for more information.