Guides · For carers · 5 min read
Looking after yourself when you are the family carer
Caring for a parent or partner is a job nobody trains you for. Small, practical ways to keep going without running yourself into the ground.
By the Wrenmoor senior care team ·
Most care in this country is given by family: daughters, sons, husbands and wives, often while working and raising children. If that is you, this one is for you.
Name what you are doing
Many people do not think of themselves as carers. “I just help Dad.” But if you are doing his shopping, his tablets and his paperwork, you are a carer, and you may be entitled to support and to a carer’s assessment from your local council. Ask for one.
Take one thing off the list
Not everything. One thing. The Tuesday shopping, the evening tablets, the Sunday bath. A single regular visit from a paid carer can give you back an evening a week, and the person you care for gets someone new to talk to.
Plan a proper break before you need it
Respite is far easier to arrange when it is not an emergency. A week of live-in or overnight care while you go away can be booked months ahead. Families who plan a break each year tell us it is what keeps them going.
Sleep is not optional
If you are up in the night, the rest of the day suffers, and so does your patience. Two or three sleeping nights a week from an overnight carer can change everything.
Talk to someone
A friend, the GP, a local carers’ group. Caring can be lonely, and the frustration and guilt are completely normal. You are not doing it wrong.
When to ring us
When you notice you are always tired, when you dread the phone ringing, or when you have stopped seeing your own friends. A conversation costs nothing, and you do not have to decide anything on the call.
