K101_Tma01

Title: Why can it be difficult to decide whether or not a person is a carer, and does it matter' Base your answer on the case of someone you know. It can be difficult to decide if a person is a carer or not because there seems to be a clear cut answer but that is not always the case, it is important to be able to know who is a carer or who is not a carer so they are able to receive the help and support that they could need. I have chosen to write about someone I know who cares for her friend, who is now terminally ill and also has to use a wheelchair and is unable to fully take care of herself. Her name is Debbie and the person she cares for is Annette. Debbie and Annette have been friends since their school years; Debbie has cared for Annette for the past five years. At the beginning it was just helping out with some shopping and cleaning while Annette was receiving chemotherapy and unable to do these things for herself, however over the past few years Annette’s illness has progressed and really deteriorated meaning now Debbie’s situation has changed since the beginning off Annette’s illness. Debbie is classed as a carer and meets the government definition, which states: “The word carer means someone who looks after a friend, relative or neighbour who needs support because of their sickness, age or disability. It does not mean special care worker in a nursing home, for example-or someone employed by disabled person.” However, there is some interdependence between Debbie and Annette, for example, when Annette is feeling well enough, she is able to do things for Debbie like make her lunch before Debbie gets home from work. This does not happen very often but this could mean that to some people that there is a two Way Street between Debbie and Annette and that Debbie should not be classed as Annette’s carer. There are other complicating factors when trying to decide if someone is or is not a carer. There is also the possibility that there is more than one person doing the care, for example Debbie’s daughter spends five day’s a week with Annette keeping her company making her lunch and so on while Debbie is at work. Does this mean that she should also be classed as a carer' I don’t think so as it seems to be something that people who live together would actually do without needing a label. Another complicating factor is that not everybody who is a carer, views themselves as such. They may see what they do as a duty because of family ties, friendship or something similar. Debbie chose to care for Annette because of a friendship that as grown since they were young children and Debbie knew that if it was the other way round Annette would be doing exactly the same thing for her. In the case of Ann and Angus, Anne felt that she had no choice but to care for her father because people expected her to look after him because it’s a woman’s job, and because she had made a promise to her mother on her deathbed that she would look after him. With people who have terminal illnesses, Annette has good days and bad mostly bad now as time passes. This means that Debbie will go for a couple of weeks doing everything for Annette, making sure she’s taking all the right medication as well as bathing and dressing her, making sure that she is eating and other little things like helping her do a crossword. Now and again Annette is able to fix herself some lunch or wash herself, meaning that the duration and frequency of care that Debbie gives is varied from one week to the next. Even if they don't have these problems, that's not to say that the person being cared for is willing or able to view themselves as needing care. That can create problems in the carer getting the support they need. For example, to qualify for carer's allowance; the person being cared for needs to either be on disability living allowance or attendance allowance. Still, even if that is the case, they may not be recognised because of their age or the fact that they work more than 35 hours a week. Despite all these things, Debbie is recognised as a carer by herself, the government, and other agencies because she works less than 35 hours a week. However, Debbie does not qualify for carers allowance because she earns more than £100 a week after tax. “You cannot get Carer's Allowance if you are in full-time education with 21 hours or more a week of supervised study or earn more than £100 a week after certain deductions have been made - for example Income Tax.” In conclusion, it is hard to actually define whether or not someone is a carer and even then they may not receive all the help they need. In this case I have mentioned both Debbie and Annette view Debbie as the carer and see it as Debbie’s other job. However, meeting the government definition is not always the easiest part and even when you do; it doesn't mean that the world will view you as a carer.