The website consists of 8 different sections and contains videos, downloads, links and lots of practical information to support family carers as they support a person who needs palliative care.
Within the Republic of Ireland 10 per cent of all adults, are unpaid family carers. Over 30,000 people die in Ireland each year, and as more and more people spend the last part of their lives at home, families are often the primary caregivers. To support them in this role the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) launched new resources as part of National Carers Week which ran from June 12th to 18th.
Caring for Carers was created by a team led by Professor Peter Hudson from Queen’s University Belfast in collaboration with AIIHPC and a working group made up of family carers and former carers, carer organisations, health and social care professionals and charities. The site is hosted on www.palliativehub.com an all-island gateway to palliative care information.
Karen Charnley, AIIHPC Head of Institute, said:“We are delighted to announce the launch of Caring for Carers, which represents another key stepping stone in providing information to the public on palliative care. Family carers play a huge and critical role in caring for people with palliative care needs. The website is dedicated to the amazing work that carers do on a daily basis.”
“One of the core goals of AIIHPC is to foster strong cross-sector partnership and collaboration and Caring for Carers provides another example of the strength of this approach. It also adds another core component to The Palliative Hub and brings it closer to being the comprehensive resource for people with palliative care needs.”
Professor Peter Hudson, Queen’s University Belfast who led on the development of the resource said: “One of the most important things people confronting the end of their lives want is to be assured that their family will be well supported. Family caregivers need to know how to access support services and where to obtain key information to assist them manage the role of supporting their relative or friend. This new resource ‘Caring for Carers’ meets these needs by offering an evidenced based, reliable and easily accessible resource for family caregivers of people with life limiting conditions.”
Liam O’Sullivan, Co-coordinator for National Carers Week, Ireland said: “We are delighted to be part of the launch of this new collaborative resource during National Carers Week. Family Carers are the backbone of health and social care, even more so as people with life liming conditions seek to live out their lives at home, where they vast majority with to be.”
Over the coming months Caring for Carers will continue to be developed with additional information and stories from people who have cared for or are caring for someone with palliative care needs. The site is available here.
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