National family caregivers month 2022 – Comparing settings of care

Following from our series of miniature articles last month covering a number of awareness days taking place over October, this month we will also be covering a different awareness campaign which has some relevance to the work that we are engaged in on a regular basis. From this, we hope to offer some insight to enrich the discussions that are taking place around this important topic and potentially inspire further thoughts.

Among other things, November is recognised as national family caregivers’ month. This year, the theme which has been chosen to be observed is caring around the clock. It’s easy to see why this was decided as an important area of focus, considering the varied challenges that are faced by those providing regular, extensive care for their family members.

What are the challenges?

By and large, the greatest challenge faced by family caregivers is an overwhelming amount of responsibility, paired with an untenable lack of support. A significant amount of this caregiving is performed on an ‘informal’, unpaid basis and even for those that do receive financial compensation, there remains a serious disparity of material wage support where this conflicts with other commitments and necessities outside of the care itself.

Studies conducted by the NHS indicate that 80% of caregivers report that caring for someone living with a long-term condition has had a negative impact on their health. These issues are even more pronounced for those on either side of a typical working age.

Carers Trust have found that 13,000 young caregivers under the age of 16 in the UK alone are working over 50 hours per week. Similarly, 65% of carers over the age of 60 have a long-term condition of their own that requires extensive care.

There is a clear disparity in the balance, expectation and compensation for how essential daily care is provided.

How does this compare to other caregiving roles?

From our position of working closely with our sister company Life Change Care, there are several comparisons we are able to make between the caregiving role in a family setting and in residential care of looked after children. Though similar in some ways, many of these comparisons reveal a further depth to the disparities described above.

Despite the obvious differences, there is a lot of theory behind the trauma-informed approach of our care model -the TIER system– which provides us with an important perspective on some of the more significant factors determinng whether a care setting is conducive to the ongoing wellbeing of those providing and receiving extensive care.

Not all of the risks and challenges that are expected when working to support children and young people in recovery from developmental trauma are exclusive to LAC provision, by any means. Innumerable family carers are also in positions where they need to consider matters of physical and emotional safety, safeguarding, dynamic risk management, support of very complex mental health needs and more.

Around the clock

However, within a professional residential setting, these risks and pressures are approached within the context of a structured team and there is an inherent possibility for reprieve via rotating shifts, structured care plans, professional training, shared oversight and supervision from management.

Additionally, in care setting operating from a similar model to Life Change Care, regular clinical supervision may be provided as well to ease the emotional strain of this role with the opportunity to debrief and offload.

This support is mandated for accredited practitioners of counselling and psychotherapy, given their daily proximity to intense psychological distress in those they provide support for, but is uncommon in caregiving roles and much more so for informal caregivers.

What is the impact?

Without this kind of support in place, and especially if living together while providing care, it is exponentially more challenging to provide what we understand to be an essential factor in our care model – the facilitation of an integrated, continually grounding and emotionally safe domestic environment for the care to take place in.

That’s not to suggest that a care environment that is deprived of this support is inherently improper or dangerous, but it does present unfortunate and unnecessary additional challenges to everyone involved if the emotional toll of caregiving becomes overwhelming.

This is because there is likely to be little chance for those providing care to themselves be supported through a return to baseline and thus be enabled to pass on the emotional element of care in soothing and regulating the distress of those they look after.

If you would like to know more about our models and approaches of providing professional care, or have a particular inquiry you would like to make, you can reach us in the office on 01282 685345 or at office@jsapsychotherapy.com