There are close to 2.7 million carers in Australia. Carers come in all ages, genders, and walks of life. But the one thing they all have in common is their commitment to someone in their life that requires support.
While some people become carers suddenly, after a loved one suffers an accident or illness, others are born into the role. In some cases, becoming a carer is a gradual process.
“Carers are people who provide unpaid care and support to someone who needs help with their day-to-day living, who have a disability, mental health condition, a chronic condition, a terminal illness, an alcohol, or drug issue, or who are frail because of their age,” counsellor and social worker Patty Kikos explains.
A carer is not a care worker or a support worker, who is getting paid to go to people's homes and offer support.Patty Kikos, counsellor, social worker and podcast host.
The challenges of caring
The caring journey is commonly a long-term, all-encompassing commitment. A carer’s responsibilities can range from providing physical and personal care, to emotional and social support.
Regular duties may include dressing, showering, toileting, feeding, cleaning, and managing medications. Carers may also organise and attend appointments, assist with banking and emergencies. The more responsibilities a carer takes on, the more taxing the burden becomes.
“The caring role can get quite messy … It's usually synonymous with, ‘oh my god, this just happened! … So, it means that you need to make constant creative adjustments with your schedule,” Ms Kikos, who is also the host of the says.
Caring hands Credit: AMCS
“When you're that family member that's close enough to be the carer, your whole entire personal archetype changes. So, sometimes you'll go from being a daughter to a carer, or from being a wife to a carer.
“Sometimes you'll go from being a mother whose child was independent and growing up, to suddenly becoming a carer again. And to say that's a shock to the system is quite possibly an understatement,” Ms Kikos adds.
Australia's medical and social support systems would not cope without the contribution of unpaid carers, so the government recognises the importance of supporting carers in practising necessary self-care. Credit: Erdark/Getty Images
Available support for carers
Many carers fail to recognise themselves as such, so they may ignore the pitfalls of caring. They may not know there are support services to help them cope with the emotional stresses, financial hardship, social isolation and practical burdens that come with the role.
Some carers may be eligible to receive a carers fortnightly allowance and other supports through , and the .
Allowance amounts can be comparable to the Age Pension, but this depends on personal circumstances, as these supports are determined based on the income and assets of the person receiving care and the carer.
Mother drawing with son with Cerebral Palsy Credit: ferrantraite/Getty Images
“When you call the national number, it will automatically connect you to your local service provider. You can access services such as emergency respite, carer-directed support, peer support, counselling, facilitated coaching, and we also have a young carers program,” Ms Kikos explains.
“We also have regular online workshops that can assist in your caring role, such as understanding the journey of grief, decluttering sessions, nutrition, health, yoga, meditation, and even art therapy classes,” she adds.
Credit: Westend61/Getty Images
Like many of her colleagues, she is motivated to support carers from her personal lived experience. In her case, she received care after a serious injury.
“When carers talk to me about their caring role, I remember what my mum went through,” she says.
“Carer Gateway services are all about the carer. There are many services out there for the people that they care for, such as My Aged Care and the NDIS, but Carer Gateway focuses on the carer and the carer only, which is sometimes very difficult for carers to understand, because the focus has always been on the person they care for, so it’s something new when someone comes and tells them, ‘what’s important to you? What do you want?’”
Rear view of female caregiver embracing while greeting man at home Credit: Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images
Carer coaches like Haya work to empower carers from all backgrounds. She says many migrant carers don’t recognise their strengths, and disregard the importance of self-care, goal setting and counselling.
“It's very challenging to explain what empowerment and coaching is. During our first or second session, that's our conversation. It’s about providing education about how we empower them to become the best version of themselves, to be able to care for that person.
“The second challenge is the stigma and shame that often comes with the caring for a family member with disability. A lot of carers are disconnected from their community due to looking after someone in their family with disability.”
Source: SBS
Paul Koury says he started the publication after feeling lost during his own journey caring for his elderly parents.
“You enter a whole world without any roadmap. We’ve produced this because carers up until now have felt unseen, unappreciated, and neglected. And not knowing where to get hands-on physical support, such as respite, home care... Where to access volunteers... We list all those services and support. [We] make it easy to reach out and get help,” he says.
Girl plays doctor doctor giving bandaged teddy an injection with a toy syringe. Credit: Donald Iain Smith/Getty Images
Carer self-care essentials
Patty Kikos says reaching out to others in the carer community is essential for carers to be understood. She stresses it’s equally important to arrange regular down time.
“Make sure you surround yourself with the community that is going to be like-minded,” she says.
It’s very difficult (for carers) to ask for help … Prioritising rest and scheduling it is really important, because if you don’t schedule it, it will never get done.
“The caring role can be very heavyhearted. So, to counterbalance that, it's important to do things that keep you lighthearted as well. And if that means watching a funny TV show, or half an hour a day drawing, or walking with a friend, or being by yourself, it's very important to do that for your mental health.
“Be really good about adjusting your boundaries. You won't always have the capacity to show up in other areas of your personal and professional life the way you used to, so it's important to let people know that you might be less available,” Ms Kikos concludes.
