Increased need for carers respite

Wednesday 04 August 2021

Guernsey’s ageing demographic poses numerous issues, not least the need for people to become informal carers of loved ones with limited financial support from the States and little respite from their draining lifestyles.

The Guernsey Alzheimer’s Association understands that caring for someone with dementia can be demanding and offers a ‘sitters’ service, giving carers a two to four hour break per week.

It’s a service they offer for free, and demand is increasing.

“The need for it is reflected in how many sitters we have,” said Centre Manager and Sitting Co-ordinator, Julie Thompson.

“We started a few years ago with just one, and now we have 22 sitters.”

Pictured: “A lot of carers have something called carers stress, when they reach a point where they can’t cope,” said Ms Thompson.

Jenny Hooper helps co-ordinate the sitters with Ms Thompson, and said the need for carers is just going to increase.

“There’s a lot of ‘children of’ – people with an elderly parent, who are now in a position where their parent needs extra support. 

“That’s going to become more and more noticeable. People are living for longer, and they’re living at home longer and longer - they might need a lot of support at home and that’ll fall to the children,” she said.

These situations will often call on people to quit their jobs or reduce their hours to be able to care for their loved one properly, this is more often than not, financially crippling.

A carers allowance is available from the States of Guernsey, but has recently been deemed “not good enough” by a Deputy Liam McKenna.

“Anything is of help, but it’s not a huge amount for somebody who may need to cut their hours or leave their job,” said Ms Hooper of the £89.83 available a week, which is itself dependent on the number of hours people work.

Pictured: Sitters will come in and take over a carer’s role for a couple of hours, to give some respite to the carer.

When the Supported Living and Ageing Well Strategy was published in 2016, it estimated that there are roughly 4,000 – 6,000 unpaid carers in the Bailiwick; however, only 528 people were claiming as of the second quarter of 2020.

“There’s a lot of form filling,” said Ms Thompson, citing reasons why people have been put of claiming in the past. “Some people don’t even realise it’s available!”

Ms Hooper suggested: “Some people don’t necessarily see themselves as a carer; a husband or wife may see it as their duty. You love that person, you’ve been married for many years, and you naturally fall into looking after them,” she said.

If the need is there, the Guernsey Alzheimer’s Association will continue offering its ‘sitters’ service, but Ms Thompson admits there’s only so much they can do.

“At some point our charity has to stop, because we can only fundraise; that will put the limit on how many people we can hire and therefore how many people we can help,” she said.

If you’re struggling with a parent or loved one with dementia, you can find more information about the GAA HERE.