Carers' Week 2010
New research released today by ANGLICARE Sydney shows that parents caring for a son or daughter with a disability are exhausted; they need more help to get through each day and plan for the future.
“Older parent carers are exhausted; they have been caring for a son or daughter with a disability for decades, they experience social isolation and are worried about who will look after their loved ones in the future when they can’t”, said Peter Kell CEO of ANGLICARE Sydney.
The new Report, Care to live or live to care? provides an insight into the experiences of older parent carers prior to entering ANGLICARE Sydney’s Support Coordination Program. It surveyed nearly 300 carers.
Of those surveyed, one in five is older than 80 years, more than 80% of older parent carers are women and just over one third of carers have been in a caring role for over 40 years.
“These remarkable people are on call 24/7 and only receive occasional respite. As a result, most older carers struggle to enjoy relationships in the wider community, their families are under immense emotional and financial stress and they become more and more isolated.
“We are very concerned that social and economic exclusion experienced by older carers is made worse by a service system that is too fragmented and difficult to navigate, particularly for non-English speaking carers”, said Mr Kell.
To better support older carers and their families, ANGLICARE Sydney is calling on the Government to:
· fund more flexible models of in-home respite care so that carers don’t have to plan for months in advance;
· develop and implement ‘transition plans’ to help older carers plan for future care of themselves and those they care for, including long term accommodation options;
· develop centralised access points that refer carers to available help and service providers; and
· develop long term supported care options for people with a disability.
ANGLICARE Sydney hopes that its research will inform planning by State and Federal Government Departments and encourage a culture change in how care services are delivered.
“The focus of home care services should be on how the person receiving care experiences the service and how the service is delivered to meet the carer’s needs – these are people, not outputs”, said Mr Kell.
