Advice for carers of older people
Caring for an older person is an act of love. This is true for many people most of the time. Yet some people are carers who don’t even realise it. In some cases it is done out of duty. Or even done by people who don’t realise when the care is actually someone else’s responsibility. An example of that would be when a child carer is doing things that ought to be taken up by a local authority. Every child should learn how to help, but should never have to take on duties that interfere with their schooling and development. And sometimes the caring duties are not shared fairly among those who are responsible for the care. Siblings disappear when it gets complicated. One person takes the strain while others watch, or even worse, criticise. Sometimes one takes over and doesn’t let the others in.
Since February I’ve been featuring a series of blogs advising on almost random issues about caring for an older person. Not completely random because they are in alphabetical order. And they’ve been selected on the basis or research and experience that shows these are among the most common problems faced by carers.
As we go through, let me know if there are any issues I should cover which are missing. All of these hints will be featured in the book Carers and Caring which is due out on 28 May 2022. Available for pre-order here at an independent on line book shop and here on Amazon.
