Tuesday, February 4, 2014

A Few Caring Facts

A Few Caring Facts

February 5, 2014 at 11:08am
A shout out to all Carers like myself who do this job day in/day out, selflessly, tirelessly and lovingly caring for their child/spouse/family member.

You are all towers of strength, such good people who need all the recognition and support you can get for the job you do.  I include myself in this - not to blow my own trumpet, but just to recognise the mammoth task we all do year in and year out that benefits not only our family members, but the whole of society!  Read these caring facts below and top your hat to anyone you know who is or works as a Carer; be it paid or not - they are phenomenal people.

caregiver,[1] (U.S.,Canadian and Chinese usage) or carer (UK, NZ, Australian usage) is an unpaid or paid relative or friend of a disabled individual who helps that individual with his or her activities of daily living.

Caregiver may be prefixed with "family","spousal", "child", "parent", "young"or "adult" to distinguish between different care situations, and also to distinguish them definitively from the paid version of a caregiver, a Personal Care Assistant or PersonalCare Attendant (PCA).

Around half of all carers are effectively excluded from other paid employment through the heavy demands and responsibilities of caring for a vulnerable relative or friend. 

The term "carer" may also be used to refer to a paid, employed,contracted PCA.

The general term dependent care (i.e.,care of a dependent) is also used for the provided help.[2] Terms such as "voluntary caregiver" and "informal carer" are also used occasionally, but these terms have been criticised by carers as misnomers because they are perceived as belittling the huge impact that caring may have on an individual's life, the lack of realistic alternatives, and the degree of perceived duty of care felt by many relatives.

More recently, Carers UK has defined carers as people who "provide unpaid care by looking after an ill, frail or disabled family member, friend or partner". Adults who act as carers for both their children and their parents are frequently called the Sandwich generation. The sandwich generation is the generation of people who care for their ageing parents while supporting their own children.

A caregiver is someone who is responsible for the care of someone who has poor mental health, physically disabled or whose health is impaired by sickness or old age. To help caregivers understand the role they have taken on, "Next Step in Care"[3] outlines the following:

Tasks of a caregiver:
·      Take care of someone who has a chronic illness or disease.
·      Manage medications or talk to doctors and nurses on someone’s behalf
·      Help bathe or dress someone who is frail or disabled.
·      Take care of household chores, meals, or bills for someone who cannot do these things alone.[4]

With an increasingly ageing population in all developed societies, the role of carer has been increasingly recognised as an important one, both functionally and economically. Many organisations, which provide support for persons with disabilities, have developed various forms of support for carers as well.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001 paper on the health and well being of Carers, Carers save the Australian Federal Government over $30 billion a year.

According to the same statistics there are over 300 000 Young Carers (CA states that a Young carer is any carer under the age of 25) with 1.5 million potential young carers, where potential is defined as a young person who lives in a household where there is at least one person who requires full-time care(Is disabled etc.).[12]


In Australia they also have The Australian NationalYoung Carers Action Board (ANYCAT) whose goal is to advocate on behalf of young carers (Being young carers themselves) each board member is the sole representative of their State or Territory and represent as few as 75 000 Young Carers. In Most States and Territories they have an ANYCAT equivalent team or Board - in Queensland this is called Young Carers ActionBoard Queensland (YCABQ).

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