Carers Week

Caring, health, and social care

An aspect of caring that too often goes overlooked is that many unpaid carers have their own health conditions, and for some, caring makes them unable to prioritise their own health and wellbeing, with some missing or not making their own appointments to care, or not being able to take breaks. Despite being a support for someone else, carers are more likely to have poor physical health than non-carers with 64% saying they had their own long-term health conditions.

 

With the current pressures on the NHS, it can be very difficult to get appointments and treatments. Along with record levels of demand on social care services, many unpaid carers do not have access to the support that they need.

 

53% of current and former unpaid carers said caring had a negative impact on their physical health, and 63% said the same for their mental health.

 

 

Not only does this add to the challenge of caring, but can impact an unpaid carers’ ability to continue or return to work. This is why it is so important to make sure carers of all ages are better supported to take breaks and look after their own health while providing vital care to someone else.

 

Members of the public were asked which areas they thought the next UK Government should focus on to support unpaid carers, and found that 53% wanted more investment in social care to allow carers to take a break – the most common area, along with more financial support (53%).