I didn’t know the term “carer” when I first became one in 1999, but I soon felt the effects of isolation, anxiety and depression that are commonplace when looking after someone else long term. Caring for my young adult daughter, I felt I had fallen into a parallel world where my tedious role lacked definition and was merely a necessary extension of parenting. I wrote about my experiences in the Who cares? column for Society Guardian and was subsequently invited on to the inaugural Standing Commission on Carers set up by the last government. With a rapidly ageing population, it realised that the nation’s army of unpaid carers was integral and required support to continue its vital work.
Author Archives: Maureen
Unison warns of care funding crisis
Updated: 17 June 2012 13:42 | By pa.press.net
Day centre closures could lead to a crisis in elderly care, claims Unison
The Government has been warned of a “crisis” in care for the elderly because of widespread closures and cuts hitting day centres.
Unison said ministers should ensure that local councils are given the funding they need to keep day care centres running. Closing them was described as a “false economy” because they provide much-needed respite for carers, as well as monitoring and improving the physical and mental health of users.
Fury at welfare cuts
The group is calling on the Government to exempt families with disabled children from planned cuts
Published on Sunday 17 June 2012 08:59
A MUM whose son has autism and epilepsy is backing a campaign urging the Government not to make further cuts to support for families with disabled children.
Annie Bannister, of Great Glen, says caring for her 12-year-old son Thomas is increasingly expensive and that Government cutbacks in recent years are putting families like theirs under mounting pressure.
But who looks after the carers?
GPs are at last realising that giving support early on can reduce the strain on those who care for family or friends
It is estimated that one in three adults will become a carer in the next 10 years.
