Who cares for the Carers?
Family carers provide care to loved ones in
the family home. For example, spouses care for their partners who may have
become ill or frail, daughters care for their parents as they become older or
infirm, parents care for their children who have intellectual or physical
disabilities. 
Caregiving can be a lonely task. Day after day spent caring for
another person can lead to feelings of isolation and exclusion. With no one
else to talk to, no one to appreciate the small sacrifices you make on a daily
basis, it’s no wonder that depression is very common among caregivers.
The Carers Association is Ireland’s national voluntary organisation for and of family carers in the home. Family carers provide high levels of care to a range of people including frail older people, people with severe disabilities, the terminally ill and children with special needs.
The Association was established in 1987 to lobby and advocate on behalf of carers. While the government has begun to initiate some services for carers, the vast majority of Ireland’s family carers still remain without vital services. These services, such as in-home respite, are essential to family carers. This allows them to continue in their roles as family carers, thus implementing government policy to care for people in their own homes for as long as possible.
Today, The Carers Association has 16 Resource Centres and two Service Projects from which it delivers our range of services.
Many of those caring for a relative with
conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease find themselves isolated. .Even things
such as taking a weekend break or some time out can pose problems, the Carer’s
Association aims to give advice and support to those facing long term care of
another. A new information pack has been developed to emphasise that help and
support is available to carers nationwide and to encourage carers to join the
Association. The pack includes information on the wide range of support
services that the Association provides to members such as training and
education, information about rights and entitlements, lobbying of
Government, discounts and a home respite service. Specific entitlements include
discounts on health
insurance, home safety
and personal products, stairlifts,
disabled persons mobility solutions and holidays.
The significant impact of caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease is being highlighted as part of this Campaign. Recent research on those caring for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), has revealed a stark picture of a typical carer. The findings showed that a typical Alzheimer’s Disease carer is female and looks after her mother in the moderate to severe stage of AD in her own home, all day, every day, for over six years.
“Carers play a major role in looking after loved ones requiring high levels of care such as older people with diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease, people with disabilities or terminally ill children with special needs,” said Mary Kennedy, Patron of The Carers Association. . “Too often the role and needs of the carer are neglected with carers feeling isolated and stressed. The Carers Association aims to provide emotional and practical support while also lobbying for recognition of the valuable contribution to Irish society.”
Alzheimer’s Disease occurs most frequently in people aged 65 years or older and currently over 35,000 people in Ireland suffer with Alzheimer’s Disease or a related dementia1.
The study of carers revealed
78% of carers of Alzheimer’s Disease sufferers are female.
53% of carers over the age of 51.
41% of carers care for their mother.
62% do not work outside the home so rely on other forms of income to
survive and provide for the patient.
77% of carers perceived the AD sufferer to be at the moderate to severe stage of the disease.
64% of carers care for the AD sufferer in their home, all day everyday.
45% of carers claimed that they did not have enough income to care
for the AD patient.
The most problematic symptoms of the disease at the severe stages of AD were; memory loss (99%), loss of independence (96%), restlessness (89%), personality change (86%). Frustration, a change in relationship with others, inappropriate behaviour and physical problems were also cited as being problematic in over 60% of cases.
Carers fears for AD sufferers at the severe stage of the disease were: accidentally hurting themselves (79%); becoming physically ill (61%); becoming incontinent (51%); wandering and getting lost (50%).
73% of all patients that had spent time in hospital or a nursing home at some stage of their disease had done so for over a month and the main reason cited for this was to give the carer a break.
51% of carers caring for patients at the severe stage of AD stated that they probably or definitely would consider long term care in a nursing home.
It is estimated that by the year 2011, persons aged over 65 will represent 14.1 percent of our population up from just over 11 percent in 20023. Ireland’s population is also growing faster than many other EU state with growth measured at almost four times that of other EU countries in 20024.
The National Council on Ageing and Older People have said that all of these demographic projections anticipate significant growth in the numbers of older people in Ireland over the next ten years which will have a significant effect on the numbers of elderly people suffering with AD and related dementia.
There are an estimated 150,000 family carers in Ireland. The Carers Association is the national voluntary organisation of family Carers in the home. The organisation is owned and controlled by Carers and provides a range of services and benefits while also lobbying and raising awareness of the role and value of Carers to society. The Carers Association is a national voluntary organisation and membership costs €25 annually. Application forms are available by contacting The Carers Association on 1800 240 724 or by texting membership to 51123.
Further information is available on www.carersireland.com. Application forms are also available from healthcare professionals such as GPs.
If you would like to find further information on the Carers Association they can be contacted at; The Carers Association, “Prior’s Orchard”, John’s Quay, Kilkenny, Ireland.
Tel: 056 7721424 / 056 7753532
Fax: 056 7753531
