According to the Nation Association of Carers, there are approximately 6 million unpaid Informal Carers in the UK. These figures amount to approximately I in 7 adults with some kind of care responsibility, many others are not counted in this total.
Why do people not wish to be recognised as Informal Carers? Is it because they feel society will not accept them, or because they don't wish to be identified with the label an Informal Carer, and would rather be considered just a son or daughter?
Here is a situation between a mother and a daughter, dealing with care within the family, is Barbara an Informal Carer?
Marjorie Lloyd, 82 years old, lives with her daughter Barbara. Marjorie is dependent on her frame to get around. Tasks such as dressing and bathing Barbara assists with, she also cooks, does the laundry and takes Marjorie out during the week. A cleaner comes once a week to clean the house. Barbara doesn’t work, as looking after her mother is a full time job, so the only income is from her husband Peter. Peter also cares for Marjorie one evening a week to give Barbara a break. Barbara doesn’t consider herself an Informal Carer, but a good daughter, and doesn’t receive any extra help. Barbara doesn't really need extra help at the moment with her mother, but as her mother gets older and weaker she will notify the Social Services, to find out if help can be offered in her situation.
To indicate if Barbara is an Informal Carer, we need to consider four complicated factors:
Interdependence - Looking closely at the family is important to recognise who is dependent on whom, or are they interdependent on each other? In Marjorie's situation she is dependent on her daughter and Barbara does need her mother for company. They are interdependent.
Duration and Frequency - Identifying how many hours of care and when care is done is important, especially for social services to examine family situations. Barbara looks after her mother 24 hours a day except one evening a week when peter takes over.
Labeling- Labeling a person with the term Informal Carer describes the unpaid responsibility, which is taken when looking after a person. Barbara does care for the welfare of another person, but doesn’t label herself an Informal Carer, by choice.
Networks- This is where we must view the whole picture, for example, if Barbara is described as an Informal Carer, How about Peter? He cares one evening a week and supplies the money. Another person in Marjorie's network is the cleaner.
Form the research covered, it is visible that the system needs to be revised when dealing with Informal Carers. Informal Carers shouldn't have to feel isolated but part of society, and help should be given when required. Caring shouldn’t have to be an emotional struggle, but more of a rewarding duty to others.
Although Informal Carers are hard to identify, due to each case being unique, it is not necessary to label every Carer. If the Carer feels it is unnecessary to label themselves with an official title and help really isn’t required, so be it! To help people who care, more information and training needs to be available to everyone.
In the case of Marjorie Lloyd and Barbara, Barbara should qualify to be an Informal Carer by the social services.
