Carers benefit from courses to help them look after themselves
The Looking After Me Course
Carers have been given useful advice to help them looking after themselves.
The Looking After Me Course, run by Education Programme for Patients, is aimed at carers providing them with information such as relaxation, healthy eating and communication skills.
A recent course was run in Pembrokeshire where 50 per cent of the participants cared for their spouse or partner and a further 40 per cent were carers for their child with long-term health conditions. Fifty per cent of participants also had a long-term health condition themselves.
One-hundred per cent of the participants who completed the course stated that the course was very beneficial to themselves and a high number of participants continue to use the techniques learnt in the future.
One carer said she had learnt “breathing and relaxation techniques to think positively and learn to plan to do something for myself each week.”
Another said: “I would recommend this course to anyone; even if you feel you don’t need it you will be amazed how much it can help you.”
And a third added: “This was a great course, it covered all the different problems – we could all talk these over and suggest answers.”
For more information, carers can contact the Education Programme for Patients on 01554 779507 or at Caroline.Davies9@wales.nhs.uk
The draft Information and Consultation Strategy for Carers is currently available for comments. For more information, go to The Looking After Me Course
