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Someone I know needs help with…

Support for Carers

 Is your friend or family member a carer?

What is a carer?

Carers are people who look after others who are physically or mentally unwell, struggling with substance misuse, have a disability that requires assistance, or they might help by looking after someone while someone else can’t. Carers of friends and family members aren’t paid for their support.

 

Examples of this could be someone looking after their own child who has a disability, an elderly relative who is terminally ill, a partner with a mental health condition, a friend who is struggling with substance misuse, or someone with a long-term health condition like COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

 

It can be very rewarding helping other people. However, it probably means that the person you care about has more tasks and responsibilities, on top of anything else that they already needed to do for work and family life. Sometimes the people around them might not understand their responsibilities and why they don’t have much free time.

 

It’s easy for carers to become lonely, isolated and stressed. Fortunately, there are lots of places and people they can go to, to get help.

 

What help can my friend/family member get?

The Carers Hub Service provides:

  • Practical advice, information and connecting them to specialist services
  • Support with getting respite care
  • Meet ups with other carers locally
  • A support worker for the carer
  • Telephone and online support lines

 

There are often specialist services who can offer support that is more specific for the difficulties of the person who they are supporting. There are a few in our Get Help Now section further down on this page.

 

While your friend or family member is caring for someone else, it’s important to encourage them to take time out to look after their own mental health. They might feel like they should do everything that they can to support the person who they care for, they might even feel selfish to spend time doing things just for them, but if they don’t look after themselves, at some point they won’t be able to look after anyone else either.

 

Our self-care for mental health page has some ideas for how you can support them to keep their emotional battery charged, while they are being amazing by helping someone else.

 

It might help you to understand their struggles and daily challenges by watching these videos from Mind and Carers UK:

Get Help Now!

Here are a list of services that can help. The icons below tell you the type of support available.

Which services can I access?

Some of the services available operate only within city or the wider county area. Pop your postcode in below to quickly check which services are available to you 

Get Help Now