Ex carers need help
Former carers face difficult transition
[Posted: Sun 02/10/2011 by Deborah Condon www.irishhealth.com]
A new report has detailed the often difficult time former family carers face when their caring job comes to an end.
Currently, there are an estimated 274,000 people In Ireland providing various levels of care to family members. However, until now, no research has examined the issue of life after caring.
This new report, Between Worlds: The Experiences and Needs of Former Family Carers, was carried out by researchers from the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and Care Alliance Ireland (CAI). It is based on information provided by 40 former full-time family carers.
For the purpose of the report, former carers were defined as anyone who had cared for a family member who was ill or had a disability for at least six months before they either died or were moved into other care, such as a nursing home.
Most of the participants had been caring for a spouse or their parents and the length of time spent caring ranged from six months to 27 years.
The report found that the move from being a full-time carer to a former carer had a major emotional, financial and social impact on the person involved.
“You’re in no world. Your pre-caring world has gone, your caring world has gone, you’re left with no world,” one former carer commented.
The participants explained how becoming a carer in the first place had led them to lose the life they had once known, including social contacts and work opportunities. Then, when their caring role came to an end, they experienced more loss.
“Losing both these worlds creates a profound sense of loss and emptiness. At the point where their caring world has just ended carers often feel caught between worlds. They do not belong to any particular place and do not have any particular label or identity that applies to them,” the researchers explained.
The report noted that these people go on to feel many different emotions, including relief, anger and guilt.
“These are made worse often by the feeling that they have been dismissed and devalued by State services and this can become a barrier to moving on and creating a new world for themselves,” the researchers said.
Former carers may also face other significant barriers to moving on, including financial worries and problems returning to the workforce because of lost skills.
Some of the participants said that support from family members and caring organisations had helped them to move on. For some, this moving on involved taking on another caring role.
Meanwhile, the participants emphasised that currently, there are no statutory health or social care services in place for former carers. According to the researchers, there is a need for a formalised support system that addresses the ‘potential poverty trap and the risk of long-term unemployment as a consequence of opportunities lost during full-time caring’.
The report said that extending the Carer’s Allowance and more flexible social welfare regulations should be considered.
“There should also be a ‘toolkit’ to help prepare carers for when caring ends, with information on what to expect and where to go for help and advice.
“Furthermore, former carers know a lot about the health and social care services system and health workers in their area. They would like to be able to share this with new and current carers who could benefit from their advice and guidance,” the researchers added.
