Who_Cares

Who Cares' A Family Affair How can you tell who is a carer and who isn't' A carer is someone who looks after a relative or a friend, because of age, disability or they cannot manage at home independently. Carers support people with a range of different needs on a long term basis. Someone who isn’t a carer would be a mum for example. But if you are a carer you would have to meet the criteria. · Care for someone 35 hrs and more · Be over 16 and not studying · Care for someone who is disabled · Does not earn more that £95 week A good example of someone being a carer is a woman called Ann. Ann is the step-daughter of Angus, who is 80yrs old and suffers from Parkinson disease. Doing all her duties- · Personal Services toileting and washing · Physical labour helping Angus up the stairs, in and out of bed etc · Administrates medicine · Keeps him company Proves her identity goes beyond being a step-daughter and into a carer. Ann’s family expected her to take care of Angus, with Ann feeling she had no choice. So many family members fall in to being a carer this way, feeling they have the responsibility to take care of a grandparent, parent or siblings. Its difficult deciding if someone is a carer or not because there are a few complicating factors that have to be looked at. Duration and Frequency The government have decided to calculate the time a person is looked after for; this has to be more than 35 hrs a week and if the person is over 16. The person being looked after must be in receipt of disability allowance. This qualifies a person for the carer’s allowance. Ann realised that she did look after Angus for more than 35 hrs and should have been entitled to carer’s allowance. The table below shows a breakdown of Ann’s hours. Washing and Toileting|2 hrs a day, 7 Days a week= 14 hrs| Helping Angus in and out of bed.Up and down the stairs.|1.5 hrs a day, 7 days a week=10.5 hrs| Giving Angus his medicine|1.5 hrs a day, 7 days a week=10.5 hrs| Total|35 hours| Labelling and Identifying A person who happily works as a carer would class themselves as a carer. But in Ann’s situation she does not want to label herself as a carer but as a house wife, mother and someone who looks after they’re step-father. In Angus’s case he would feel to still keep his dignity by being a homeowner instead of being someone who is seriously ill and needs to depend on someone else. Interdependence Families need to give each other support to so it’s not difficult to identify who is the carer and responsibility is equally shared. For example Ann looks after Angus; he could return the favour by babysitting Zoe or helping her with her homework. Networks Families can also become a network each family member can be given a duty to make it easier and less stressful. One person can do the important things but other members can chip in to by doing basic duty keeping the person company, bring drinks or food etc. Ann should be a carer because she takes full responsibility for Angus and the family. Ann has to dedicate herself to Angus 35 hours a week so this classifies her as a carer. She should be entitled to some government support. A lot of people don’t realise that they could be a carer because they don’t know the guidelines, and the support they can be offered. The government’s priority is to make sure people supporting those with caring responsibilities identify themselves as carer’s at an early stage recognising the value of their contribution and involving them from the outset both in designing local care provision and in planning individual care packages, also supporting carers to remain mentally and physically well.