Adult Carers

Are you a carer?

If you help to look after a partner, child, relative or friend who needs your help due to disability, illness,  frailty or addiction – you’re a carer.

Providing care for someone can be very rewarding, but it’s also a huge responsibility that can affect other areas of your life such as your job, relationships, family life, and your own health and wellbeing. Caring for someone can be an isolating experience and it’s easy to forget that you’re important too. Looking after your own health and wellbeing is essential if you want to get the most out of life and have the inner strength to help you to continue to care.

Anyone can become a carer, at any age, or stage of their life. Whatever your circumstances, the Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Carers Centre is there to help by providing the information and support you need to allow you to care with confidence and in good health, and allow you to have a life of your own outside caring.

What support is available?

Many carers are unaware of the support available to them, or what they are entitled to. At the Carers Centre you will be given the opportunity to have a conversation with a Carer Support Worker about your caring role and what’s important to you. For example, you might want to:

Together, you can then decide what kind of information or support might suit you best and review things as you go along. This could include:

    • Help to access an Adult Carer Support Plan to see if there’s any help that you might be entitled to
    • Help with writing letters and filling in forms; or accompanying you to meetings
    • Help to access welfare benefits and grants, such as Carer’s Allowance or Attendance Allowance
    • Help to access a short break
    • Support to plan for an emergency
    • Support when the person you care for is in hospital, or coming home from hospital
    • Help to look after your own health and wellbeing
    • Signposting to other organisations
    • Opportunities to meet other carers at carers groups and social activities
    • The chance to improve your skills and knowledge by attending Care with Confidence sessions
    • Opportunities to ‘have your say’

 

Information on this page is correct as of June 2022.