Are you a Carer?

A carer is: Anyone who cares, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability or a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support.

How can Hospice of the Valleys support carers?

We recognise that caring for someone is a unique experience and every carer has their own story. We can look at issues that affect you by talking to you directly about your caring role. Some issues that frequently arise are:

• Queries about financial entitlements for carers.
• Questions about the nature of your loved one’s illness now and in the future.
• How to talk to your loved one about your feelings, anxieties and fears.
• Practical issues e.g. how to access housing advice or aids and adaptations.
• Having time for yourself away from your caring role.
• These are some of the issues carers might raise but we recognise that each carer will have different needs.

Did you know?

*Three in five of us will become a carer at some point in our lives.
*Carers save the Welsh economy more than £8.1 billion a year.
*As a carer you have rights. These rights are legally defined by the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014.
This means that carers in Wales under the Act are entitled to receive information and advice to help them care, and a right to an assessment of their need for support.

What is a Carer’s Assessment?

A carer’s assessment is a chance to discuss your needs with your local council.

The assessment is free.

It is not a test of how good you are at caring and you will not be judged. The assessment is a way of finding out what can be done to support you in your caring role. The Family Support team can advise and support you to access a carer’s assessment under the Act.

Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool

At Hospice of the Valleys we recognise that when a relative or friend receives bad news about their health, your role in helping and supporting them can change significantly.  We want to ensure that we can assist you to assess the support that you require as a carer, in order for you to continue supporting your relative or friend.  This is important because as professionals we can sometimes think that we know what may help, but we want to ensure that your needs are identified by YOU.

Our Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool has been developed from the experiences of people who just like you, have been supporting someone who has been referred to our service.

We are pleased to announce that in April 2020, we are formally launching this across our service.  To find out more please contact our Family Support Team on 01495 717277