Every day at least 6,000 people start caring. Becoming a carer can impact significantly on a person’s life – it takes time, energy, can leave you isolated and can be costly. The government have made attempts to support this growing numbers of carers, but there is so much more to be done. (See publications)
For carers there is a very real impact on their daily life and, with an ageing population and higher incidence of disability and serious illness, this can result in carers having to give up their caring role in favour of their own health. This is a very hard decision to take and some will not take it but go on until they reach a crisis.
It is therefore important that carers look after themselves. There are a number of very good leaflets on the Alzheimer’s Society web site that suggest ways a carer can manage this and thus continue their caring role. http://alzheimers.org.uk/
There are also agencies that can assist with respite such as the Crossroads Care Scheme. This is now part of the Carers Trust http://www.carers.org/