Author Archives: wendy

Encouraging ‘Young Carers’ Is Unacceptable

November 21, 2013   Carers, young carers

  The carers movement talk about how much money they have saved the government

Over the last decade there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people who are regarded or regard themselves as carers, due to a strong carers movement that has the support of this government. Those who were regarded as spouses, parents and siblings are now just regarded as carers, and while family members may sometimes be wrong, society believes carers always know best, even when it is far from the case.

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MP calls for legislation to protect sibling carers

November 21, 2013   Carers, family

The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP

21 November 2013

The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, who was brought up by his sister from the age of 13 following their mother’s death, has called for legislation to improve the situation of brothers and sisters who care for their siblings in the absence of a parent. In Britain it is estimated there are over 45,000 siblings raising their younger brothers and sisters. In some cases this is as a result of parental death, or because of parental imprisonment, mental illness, drug and alcohol misuse or domestic violence – or a combination of these factors.

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Improving dementia care: ask those who have lived with the illness

November 18, 2013   Carers, dementia, Social care

Personal experiences are often ignored by the social care system, but professionals can learn a lot from patients and their families

 

An understanding of what dementia is really like both for the individual and their family is often missed in care training. Photograph: Burger/Phanie / Rex Features

 

Dementia care training is a competitive marketplace, populated mostly by people from academic and scientific backgrounds. They can tell you the statistics, what the latest research has discovered, and the widely recognised methods we should all be following when we provide care to a person with dementia.

What is often missed is the understanding about what dementia is really like – both for the individual and their family.

I’m not an academic. University wasn’t an option for me; my dad needed me and there was nowhere else I was going to be other than by his side. He lived with vascular dementia for 19 years, going 10 years without a diagnosis and then spending nine years in three different care homes. Dad’s dementia began when I was just 12 years old, and went on to dominate my teens and twenties. He passed away in 2012 aged 85.

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