The word carer can be very confusing and often thought to mean home care workers.

Carers are everyday people, wives & husbands, mums and dads, sons and daughters, friends and neighbours that provide help and support to relatives and friends.

Often that help is physical and includes things like medication and personal care, housework and meal preparation or assistance to move about but often caring can be providing emotional support or taking on responsibility for financial or legal matters.

Caring can be rewarding and a choice that many of us will embrace and manage as we go through our own lives but for many people caring responsibilities can have effects on many aspects of a carers life.

Carers may struggle to retain employment, the carers own health and wellbeing both physically and emotionally can be affected, carers can become socially isolated and income can often be affected.

The life of carers is so entwined with the life of the person you care for that you might find yourself in a “world” that is new to you, with a range of health and social care professionals actively involved in the life of the person you care for and maybe even you.

However caring affects your life we aim to provide the support and advice to overcome these challenges and allow you to maintain a caring role for as long as you are able and willing.