Lyons Davidson’s Head Injury team support Carers Week 2017
Carers Week 2017 runs from 12 to 18 June with the sole and invaluable purpose of raising awareness of the huge number of family members or friends who selflessly care for a loved one.
There are 6.5 million people in the UK providing unpaid care for ill, frail or disabled family members, partners or friends. There is a huge range of different ways that they provide care: it might be personal assistance, like helping with getting dressed, washed or going to the toilet, practical help like housework, shopping and cooking, or complex things like helping with official forms and finances.
Caring for a person with a brain injury has its own particular challenges. Often, there is no visible sign of disability but the brain-injured person may be incapable of working or coping with their day-to-day tasks. Brain injury may have caused behavioral changes, so that the injured person seems like a different person from the one they were before the injury. This can put immense pressure on a marriage or a family relationship, especially when it is clear that the caring will be a lifelong commitment.
Being a carer can have a devastating impact on the carer and can result in ill-health, poverty and social isolation. It is therefore vital that carers look after themselves as well as the person that they are caring for. Support is available from medical practitioners such as GPs; there are also organisations such as the Carer’s Trust, Carer’s UK and Headway who can offer invaluable advice and support.