Carers Week 2020: Raising Awareness of Family Carers

To mark this year’s Carers Week, we wanted to help raise awareness of family and community carers, and how hard caring can sometimes be, as well as how rewarding it can be. 

To mark this year’s Carers Week, we wanted to help raise awareness of family and community carers, and how hard caring can sometimes be, as well as how rewarding it can be. 

In the UK alone there are around seven million carers - this equates to one in ten people, and that number is rising. A large percentage of UK carers are young adult carers aged between 16 and 25 - according to Carers Trust, there are estimated to be at least 376,000 young adult carers in the UK. Providing care to a loved one is difficult enough for an adult, it’s even hard and more stressful for a young person to cope with and manage. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 4.5 million people across the UK have become unpaid carers in just a matter of weeks, many of these carers are also young people. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there are people up and down the country caring for loved ones at home, without any additional help or support. 

When a loved one has a health condition - be it a parent, a sibling or even a grandparent - many people feel that they have no choice but to provide care for that individual. This is an incredible thing to do - to selflessly care for another person. However, being a carer can make it difficult to lead a life of your own. 

At Bluebird Care, we pride ourselves on offering the very best level of care, thanks to our team of outstanding Care Assistants. To help family carers across the country, we have put together a guide to managing care and finding the support that is available to you. 

1. Take full advantage of all support available to you 

If you are caring for a loved one, it’s essential that you take the time to look into the local support that is available for you. There are charities up and down the country that support carers of all ages - reaching out to these charities should mean that you are provided with any additional support that you need. There are also professional carers available to help out, should you require an extra helping hand. 

2. Be practical 

When it comes to providing care for a loved one, doing so can take up a large amount of your time, which can put a significant amount of pressure on your daily life and work. It’s important to be practical in regards to how you are providing care for a loved one. 

Another key factor to consider, is ensuring that your home is fitted out with all of the necessary equipment for providing the highest quality of safe care. For instance, if the person you are caring for has mobility problems, then you should have a hoist in place to make moving them safely easier. 

3. Talk to other carers

You are not alone. There is a large community of carers up and down the country who you can connect with. There are social media groups, such as Facebook groups for family carers, there are also charities providing support. You aren’t alone, there is a whole community of carers who you can turn to for help and guidance.