Tag Archives: Older care

The Positive Aspects of Care Homes In Dementia Support

Guest blog from  JasonTucker

Often family members can feel guilty

When a person is diagnosed with dementia it has an enormous impact on their family. Many of those who suffer with dementia are elderly and may well have been caregivers throughout their adult life as parents and grandparents, but as the condition takes hold the roles become reversed as they need increasing amounts of care.

At first family members will often try to provide this care themselves, along with help from dementia support services and charities. Dementia is a multi-faceted condition and symptoms include memory loss, impaired reasoning and communication skills as well as a general struggle with day to day activities. Because of these effects sufferers often become disorientated, frightened and can sometimes become violent, risking harm to themselves and others. As the condition progresses the level of care required can become too much for even the most devoted and patient family members. At this point seeking long-stay care in a residential or nursing home can be the best move.

Census 2011: 2.1m unpaid carers devote over 20 hours a week to looking after loved ones

Census 2011: 2.1m unpaid carers devote over 20 hours a week to looking after loved ones

The burden on unpaid carers has increased significantly over the past decade, with nearly half a million extra people devoting more than 20 hours a week to looking after family and friends.

 

One in ten people in England and Wales is an unpaid carer, the census shows

5:27PM GMT 11 Dec 2012

One in ten residents of England and Wales – a total of 5.8 million people – devotes at least part of their week to caring for disabled, sick or elderly relatives and loved ones without any expectation of payment.

This is an 11 per cent rise from the 5.2 million unpaid carers recorded in the 2001 census, and comes amid a growing crisis about how elderly social care will be funded in the future as the population continues to get older.

The greatest increase was among those providing over 20 hours a week of care, with the number rising from 1.66 million a decade ago to 2.1 million in 2011.

For many unpaid family Carers Christmas will just be another day.

For many unpaid family Carers Christmas will just be another day.

Guest blog by Maureen

For many unpaid family Carers Christmas will be no different to any other day of the year, the loved ones they care for still have to be cared for 24/7, their disability or illness doesn’t go away just because it’s Christmas, quite often Carers have found that friends and family no longer visit or even enquire how they or their caree are which leaves them feeling shut off from the outside world, what many people don’t realise is anyone, and I mean anyone can become a carer in an instant, you don’t chose to become an unpaid carer, it just happens without warning and in some cases without realising you are a carer.
Christmas is no fun either for the person being cared for, they to feel cut off as well while the outside world is having Christmas.
Christmas is another time when outside help is not always available and everywhere is closed putting more and more pressure on the unpaid carer at this time of year.
Chill4us forum is a lifeline to many unpaid carers, it may not be person to person but knowing someone is out there can ease a little of the loneliness and isolation and Chill4us is open all over Christmas, New year and the rest of the year.
Below are some comments how some family carers feel at this time of year……..