6. Caring for the carer
Topic 1 of 4
Put on your oxygen mask first
Support for yourself as a carer is essential to ensure your health and well-being and enable you to provide the care necessary to keep others healthy and happy.
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Sometimes becoming a carer is so gradual you don’t realize you are a carer until people start referring to you as one.
Many people whose roles started as something else, child or spouse, never see themselves as carers, even though that is what they’ve been doing for a long time.
No matter how gradually your role as a carer develops, demands on your time, thoughts, and energy will nearly always increase until you realize that there is not much left of you for anyone or anything else. This can be an alarming realization, and we often feel there is little we can do about it. This is when self-care becomes so important.
You are the lynchpin of your loved one’s care. You hold it together. You’re the glue. So, you need to do whatever you can to stay as fit and as positive as possible. When you are feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, the care you give is also compromised. Perhaps the relationships you have with other family and friends are not as deep and enjoyable as they could be.
Caring can be emotionally and physically draining, leading to burnout and neglect of one’s own needs. That’s why it’s important for you, as a carer, to also attend to your own well-being.
Please
Being a carer
There are more than 3 million unpaid carers in Australia. That is a huge number, and their care contributes massively to the economy and also let’s not forget productivity. I can’t imagine anyone who works harder and longer hours than carers. So start by congratulating yourself on the enormous contribution you make, not only to the person you care for, but to the Australian economy as a whole.
What is common among carers is that most have sleeping problems, they no longer make time to do things just for pleasure and they neglect their own health.
Don’t wait for things to improve or for more time to become available, as you might already be burnt out by then. It’s important to keep yourself in good shape, both physically and mentally.
First point of call
Carer Gateway, an Australian Government program, is the single point of contact for carers providing unpaid care and support to a family member or friend with disability, mental ill health, chronic or life-limiting illness, alcohol or other drug dependence or who is frail and aged. Support and services are free.
Step 1. Call Care2Serve, your Tasmanian provider of Carer Gateway on 1800 422 737 (& press 1 at the menu)
MODULE 6
