K101

The difficulties and rewards of being a carer for a family member B792735X In this essay I am going to discuss the difficulties and the rewards that `carers’ face when they are caring for a family member. Carers play a vital role-looking after those who are sick, disabled, vulnerable, or frail. The government believes that care should be something which people do with pride. We value the work that carers do. So we are giving new support to carers. Carers save the government millions a year because the work carers do would have to be paid for if they did not do it. (unit 1 p.13) Sometimes we don’t even realise that we have taken on caring responsibilities for a loved one it just sort of creeps up on people, so they are not fully aware of the extent of what they have taken on and the demands on them and other family members, it can take certain personal skills and training to provide a high standard of care but carers of family members gain this expertise without realising it as they are providing care and personal care on a regular basis. Take Ann and Angus for instance, Ann didn’t see herself as a carer at all it was her friend Cheryl who kept reminding Ann of the fact that she was a carer to her stepfather Angus who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, Ann had left her job to look after Angus so the family were only getting her husband Bobs wage but if Ann recognised herself as a carer and applied for carers allowance she could get £55.55 per week (as of October 2011 you can check the carers page on directgov.uk for any update to this). It is important to recognise carers just like Ann as they need support, if there was a support network in place it would help with the stressful situations that Ann and other carers face on a daily basis. Although Ann does have her husband Bob and daughter Zoe who also provide some amount of care for Angus Ann manages a great deal on her own. When we care for a loved one sometimes we do it because we feel as though we have no choice, like Ann because they all lived in Angus’s house and she had previously promised her mother before she died that she would look after Angus she felt it was just expected of her. At times caring for someone you know or love can completely take over your life and although you love spending time with this person you wished it was in different circumstances at times as you rarely get time for yourself or your family so this can also be stressful for the husband, daughter or son who will often feel neglected and left out as all your time is spent caring for someone else, it can also be a stressful time for the person being cared for as at times they will feel a burden and feel useless as they rely on you to do most things for them like the intimate care which can be a little embarrassing for you and them maybe more so than if it was a formal carer carrying out the care. Care relationships can be very demanding and stressful but we often forget how rewarding caring for a family member can be as you can offer love, companionship and comfort which can benefit the relationship on both sides, and create a lot of memories that you all can treasure. Mrs Bliss had a very loving family in that they all came together when Mrs Bliss fell ill and Mr Bliss could only provide a small amount of care for his wife as he was a frail man himself but their grown up children provided a great amount of love and care for their mother, the youngest daughter gave up work to care for her mother and the youngest son did for a time too this showed true love and devotion to their parents as they didn’t want their mother to be taken into hospital and for their father to be left on his own. All the children provided some amount of care be it shopping, cleaning or companionship or odd jobs they all did there bit. More and more people now receive care in their own homes from a family member, family members providing care for a loved one save the government millions of pounds each year so we can see why the government recognise the work that informal carers do. The UK is one of the few countries in the world to have recognised that family carers are vitally important, and to have tried to find ways to enable them to `carry on caring’. (unit 1 p.13) When taking into account the reward`s and difficulties of caring for a family member the difficulties far outweigh the reward`s, but when it comes down to caring for someone you know and love the reward`s can outweigh the difficulties if the right help and support are in place. References K101 Who Cares' Unit 1 Johnson, J and De Souza, C (2009) Understanding Health and Social Care. Word Count 847