Parkinson's -12 To 18 June Carers Week: In Sickness And In Health

Main Category: Parkinson's Disease
Article Date: 18 Jun 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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Carers play a vital role in supporting many of the 120,000 people with Parkinson's in the UK. The fluctuating nature of Parkinson's can put particular stresses and demands on the carer. A recent study revealed that:

-- 45 percent of family carers had been looking after the person for over ten years and ten percent for more than 20 years.
--69 percent of carers felt their physical health had been affected
--71 percent felt that caring had affected their mental/emotional health.

(Palliative Care and Advanced Stage Parkinson's Disease, September 2005, Parkinson's Disease Society [PDS].)

One of the PDS's key campaign priorities is to improve the support for carers.

Campaigning for improved support for carers

Supporting the health and emotional wellbeing of those caring for people with Parkinson's is vitally important as it impacts upon the person they care for and the family as a whole. The Society is campaigning to ensure that carers have access to relevant support, in particular focusing on raising the profile of carers assessments and ensuring that local authorities provide relevant services for carers. For more information, on what the PDS is doing in this area, visit our what is the Society doing to help carers page.

Carers Week: call for carer health checks

This week is Carers Week and the Society supports the call for every carer to be offered a health check through his or her GP practice within 12 months of becoming a carer and on a regular basis thereafter. We hopes that people affected by Parkinson's will encourage their MP to support the Parliamentary motion EDM 2043 - CARERS WEEK 2006 so that a debate will take place in Parliament on the subject to draw attention to the need for health checks for carers and to highlight their need for support.

That this House expresses its admiration for the six million people in the UK who provide unpaid help and support to a relative or friend, who could not otherwise manage because of frailty, illness or disability; is concerned that large numbers of carers are unknown to statutory agencies; notes that Carers Week, being held this year from 12 to 18 June has the theme of carers and health, with the objective of assisting carers and enabling them to access support and services; believes that carers need to be viewed as key partners in community care; is concerned that 79 percent of carers say that their health has been affected by caring; notes that nine out of ten carers believe they will benefit from annual health checks; calls on local statutory health bodies to carry out an audit of good practice in their area and establish timescales for the introduction of health checks for carers.

Resources for carers of people with Parkinson's Disease

The PDS has a national free phone helpline for people with Parkinson's, their carers and friends. The helpline can be contacted on 0808 800 0303.

The PDS has also produced a Carers' Guide. To order a copy, contact the PDS on (UK) 020 7931 8080 or download a copy from the website on the carers' publications page.

Parkinson's Disease Society, UK

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