Managing life’s big changes
As a carer, of any age, there are key ‘stages’ in life – and these stages can be made harder to manage because of your caring role.
These can be things like:
- Moving to secondary school
- Considering going to university or college
- Changing jobs
- Moving to a new area
Whether you do something or when you do it will often be influenced by your caring role.
Similarly, there are other key moments which are related to your caring role.
For example:
- Having to reduce hours or give up work because of caring
- Having to adjust your home to accommodate the person you care for moving in
- When the person you care for moves to residential care
- When the person you care for is at end of life, or has died
How can you make these changes more manageable?
- Research – do everything you can to be sure you’ve got the best information to make a decision. Find out all you can about the changes or potential changes. The more you know, the better you’ll feel about your choice.
- Seek advice from professionals/experts.
- Speak to others in a similar position – if you don’t know people, consider coming to one of our support groups. Or you can find other carers through on-line forums – like Carers UK for example. There will always be someone who’s faced similar challenges – and got through it.
- Write a ‘pros/cons’ list – it’s a cliché, but this can help you be objective.
- Be prepared – as much as possible. The more you can organise in advance, the better you’ll feel. And give yourself as much time as you can.
- Change can be difficult – don’t be hard on yourself though. Look after yourself as much as you can – eat well, exercise, make time for yourself. And always treat yourself with care, and compassion. Think ‘how would I advise a friend in a similar position?’
We can help
Most importantly, speak to us. We can help by giving you the right information, to help you be sure you’ve made the right decision. Please get in touch.
Call us on 0303 040 1234 or email [email protected]. You can also text us (SMS) on 07723 486730.
