Fairness for Carers
With the cold weather please note that there will be a double payment for anyone who is in receipt of the Fuel Allowance this week.
The decision has only been made as of today so if anyone on the payment is unsure of the government’s decision please be assured that you will be receiving the double rate of €45.00.
Please see link below for further info.
Family Carers Ireland was successful under the last round of Dormant Accounts funding in securing a grant of €338,464. The specific category of the 2018 funding was former carers. The funding will allow us to roll out a number of initiatives across the country which support not only former carers, but also those who are preparing for the transition from the caring role.
The flagship programme will be our nationwide ‘Plan C’ Programme: Family carers have already had to make one hugely significant, life altering change in their lives. Their original life trajectory, Plan A, has been derailed by the necessity to provide full-time care to a family member, Plan B. The totality of a carer’s role and responsibility mean that they rarely have the space to plan for the time that their caring role will end, Plan C. This was designed in response to feedback from carers regarding the difficulties of transitioning from the caring role, and adjusting to new circumstances.
For many, it means re-entry to the workforce; for others, adapting to new roles later in life and for others becoming more involved in activities they could not focus on while caring. The goal of the ‘Plan C’ project is to give carers the space and structured support to consider their post-care future. Current carers and former carers will be supported to consider what life-skills they have acquired through their years of caregiving.
For some carers this will mean translating their caregiving-acquired skills into examples that will speak to prospective employers. For example, with support a carer could see that through the caring role they have become very adept at navigating bureaucracies in order to secure supports for the person they care for. This could be presented as a very attractive skill to prospective employers.
The Plan C project will also be of benefit to those carers who do not envision returning to the workplace once their caring role has ended. Many carers experience loneliness and social isolation and the postcare transition can be very difficult to navigate. Plan C will support carers to consider how they might best reintegrate with their local community, through volunteering and participation. It will also support them to consider whether the Family Caring mentoring project would be appropriate for them as a way of putting their years of caring experience to further use.
It is intended that all Family Carers Ireland carer groups will be visited by the Programme Manager, to be given the chance to avail of and participate in this exciting initiative.
The mentoring and befriending project is an initiative which will also be funded, and for which regional mentoring coordinators will be recruited. These will offer training to former carers who wish to give back to their community or to put their years of care to good account by mentoring current carers; or who wish to participate in a befriending programme in their local community.
The projects funded will also include important actions to establish relationships with employers to work toward better facilitation of carers returning to the workplace following medium-term leave to meet caring obligations (e.g. carer’s leave); to convene academic researchers in the field of life after care for an information sharing event; and to understand and support those making the unique transition(s) from the caring role required of carers for those with mental health difficulties.
Finally, it will fund counselling or life coaching sessions to former carers who would most benefit from the services in preparing for the life after care.
Earlier in December Government announced that all carers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance would receive a free GP Visit Card and further announcing a funding injection of €10m toward respite care. These are welcome signals that carers issues are becoming a focus of Government action. These measures come in the wake of the huge public response to the RTE Prime Time Special ‘Carers in Crisis’, which highlighted the plight of 5 family carers, representing thousands more in similar situations across the country. The theme of ‘Carers in Crisis’ has been prominent in the media over the past twelve months, beginning with Rosita Boland’s Irish Times article and the subsequent ‘Carers in Crisis’ series in the same paper. Family Carers Ireland was instrumental in highlighting these issues, pursuing them through political and media channels and facilitating access to carers for print and broadcast media.
Family Carers Ireland welcomes the announcement of GP visit cards to all in receipt of Carer’s Allowance. We emphasise however that only 1 in 4 carers actually receives Carer’s Allowance, mainly due to the means test; we would therefore ask that this measure be extended to all full-time carers. We are accordingly calling for all carers in receipt of the Carer’s Support Grant to receive this card, which would bring over 25,000 more into the net (a measure for which FCI called in its most recent and many previous pre-budget submissions). This is certainly a step in the right direction; but we must also question why it will take up to 6 months to implement, and note the issue of cost of medication and prescriptions that will remain.
In response to the announcement of €10m extra for respite care, again, this is a step in the right direction, but will not be sufficient to tackle the crisis that exists for carers in gaining access to regular respite breaks and emergency respite provision. Further, as 12 residential centres have been mentioned, there will still be a postcode lottery in terms of accessing these centres, depending on which county you live in.
Family Carers save the state €10 billion each year – both of these steps announced yesterday will cost approximately €21 million, so while both are welcome and deserve recognition, it is important that it is also recognised that there is a lot more to be done!
Family Carers Ireland welcomed Minister for Health, Simon Harris, and Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly’s opening of a public consultation on home care services earlier in 2017.
“A statutory entitlement to home care has been one of the major policy asks of Family Carers Ireland for many years. While we welcome the consultation process as a signal of intent we are disappointed that the focus of the initial phase of the consultation seems to be on how best to reconfigure and regulate the existing services of home help and home care packages. While these are important questions, should the consultation remain this narrow it will exclude a variety of other vital supports such as respite care, aids and appliances, housing adaptation grants and transport. We are also concerned that the consultation appears to lean heavily towards older people. It is essential that the needs of those under the age of 65 with disabilities and life limiting conditions are also addressed.
The legislation it informs must provide for a comprehensive, integrated scheme – if it is not properly planned and adequately funded to meet the total care needs of every individual, including access to regular respite, regardless of age, geography or economic circumstances, we see a real danger that the overall result of this process would be increased charges with no discernible improvement to services.”
In recent years access to respite has become almost non-existent. Funding cuts, bed cuts as a result of HIQA inspections, staff shortages and the transfer of respite beds to longstay beds has greatly reduced respite availability and denied carers this vital support. Despite their importance, supports such as respite care and specialist therapies are only mentioned in the document in the context of seeking feedback on how they could work alongside home care services which are defined in terms of home help and home care packages alone. If the consultation is indeed this narrow in focus, it is hard to see how it leaves enough room for the much-needed re-imagining and significant altering of how care is provided in the home. Family carers look to Minister Daly to confirm that there is room in the consultation for these vital supports to be incorporated into any future statutory scheme.
Today, one in twenty people in Ireland is a family carer, providing some €10 billon in unpaid care each year. By 2030, demographic changes will require one in five to take on a caring role. It is of paramount importance that where a person is supported to remain at home with the help of a family carer then the carer’s own needs must also be assessed and addressed through a carers needs assessment, with resources to support carers to care safely and with dignity at home.
Family Carers Ireland provides a range of supports and services for family carers through its 22 resource centres nationwide and advocates fairness for carers. The organisation is currently running its year-long ‘Share the Care’ campaign to help family carers self-identify and seek supports. www.familycarers.ie
The Assisted Decision-making (Capacity) Act was signed into law on the 30th December 2015. The Act is a reforming piece of legislation which will abolish the Wards of Court system and repel that Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act, 1871. Essentially this means that those with difficulty making decisions about their finances, healthcare, living arrangements etc. will be helped, where possible, to make these decisions for themselves. Where this is not possible, a representative (possibly a family carer) will be appointed by the Circuit Court to make certain decisions.
This role, as well as other decision-making roles provided by the Act, will be supervised by the new Decision Support Service (DSS), to be based in the Mental Health Commission.
Ms. Aine Flynn was appointed to the role of the Director of Decision Support Services on October 2nd and has begun putting in place the necessary structures to commence operation of the Act (expected in late 2018).
The HSE along with the National Disability Authority are charged with responsibility for creating guidance documentation to help people understand the provisions of the Act. The HSE along with Family Carers Ireland will host an information session and focus group with families and carers in February/March 2018 (date and venue to be confirmed). If you’d like to attend this event please contact Clare Duffy to express your interest and she will contact you again in the New Year.
Email: cduffy@familycarers.ie or phone 086-7707231.
Both a power of attorney and an enduring power of attorney transfer significant power and responsibility to another person (attorney) by the person transferring the power (donor).
A power of attorney is a document which transfers power and responsibility during the donor’s lifetime and whilst they have capacity. The enduring power of attorney, drafted when the donor has capacity, only transfers the power when the donor becomes incapacitated. On the death of the donor, this power ceases to have effect.
An enduring power of attorney is a very useful tool to retain some control over your personal affairs if you become mentally incapacitated, either through an acquired brain injury, dementia etc. You can identify the people you want to support you and you can control some of your affairs. You can also make recommendations for aspects of your care. It is also a way to avoid Wardship proceedings issuing against you.
There are rules about how you prepare and write an Enduring Power of Attorney. The rules are set out in the Power of Attorney Act 1996. You must meet with both your solicitor and doctor to ensure that you understand what you are writing and that you are not under any pressure or influence to prepare one.
An Enduring Power of Attorney will only become active if the High Court permits it, on foot of the lodging of a medical certificate. This process is known as registration. The donor can oppose the application. The donor can also revoke the Enduring Power of Attorney at any time before registration
Email: cduffy@familycarers.ie or phone 086-7707231.
Family Carers Ireland is launching today its Pre-Election 2016 Campaign appealing to politicians to include carers in their list of priorities for the new Government. The campaign, titled ‘Election 2016: Achieving Fairness for Family Carers’ highlights that with the number of family carers on the rise, more must be done to support their unpaid work and contribution to society.
Ireland’s almost 200,000 family carers provide 6,287,510 hours of unpaid care each week. This work saves the state €4 billion each year and yet, despite the enormity of this contribution, family carers are struggling. Each year vital respite, home, day and residential care services are reduced as a result of a €2.7 billion cut in health and social care spending since 2009. While efforts have been made to reverse some of these cuts imposed during the economic crisis, with Ireland’s economy now in recovery Family Carers Ireland are calling on the elected Government to prioritise family carers.
“Family Carers are one of Ireland’s greatest national resources. Their work saves the state four billion euro each year. Despite this contribution, many carers find it more and more difficult to get respite and access services. Isolation, financial hardship, depression, stress, poor health and exclusion from paid work remain hallmarks of many carers’ lives” said Catherine Cox, Head of Communications, Family Carers Ireland, speaking at today’s launch.
“With an ageing population, care in the home is one of the biggest health service issues facing the incoming Government. We are asking politicians to commit to investing in and implementing real supports for family carers that fit with the realities of caring in Ireland today.”
Family Carers Ireland are asking candidates to make five key commitments for family carers:
Today’s launch heard presentations from family carer, Rosemary Kratschmar, and young carer, Jamie Mooney.
Rosemary Kratschmar, mum of four, cares for her son Sammy (23) who is a person with Down syndrome. Rosemary has had many battles over the years for Sammy’s health and education entitlements and feels very strongly that all parents of children with special needs should have an automatic right to a Medical Card. Sammy will require care for life and Rosemary feels that the mental and physical health of family carers is of huge importance and something that requires support as so much depends on just one carer.
Young Carer of the Year, Jamie Mooney (19) has provided care since he was six years old for his mother, Sabrina, who has Epilepsy. Jamie, from Shankill, Co. Dublin, also has his own health issues and is being treated for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He is asking Government to help support Ireland’s “hidden army” of young carers.
Family Carers save the state €4 billion; want commitments from next Government
Family Carers Ireland launch General Election 2016 Campaign
Family Carers Ireland is launching today its Pre-Election 2016 Campaign appealing to politicians to include carers in their list of priorities for the new Government. The campaign, titled ‘Election 2016: Achieving Fairness for Family Carers’ highlights that with the number of family carers on the rise, more must be done to support their unpaid work and contribution to society.
Ireland’s almost 200,000 family carers provide 6,287,510 hours of unpaid care each week. This work saves the state €4 billion each year and yet, despite the enormity of this contribution, family carers are struggling. Each year vital respite, home, day and residential care services are reduced as a result of a €2.7 billion cut in health and social care spending since 2009. While efforts have been made to reverse some of these cuts imposed during the economic crisis, with Ireland’s economy now in recovery Family Carers Ireland are calling on the elected Government to prioritise family carers.
“Family Carers are one of Ireland’s greatest national resources. Their work saves the state four billion euro each year. Despite this contribution, many carers find it more and more difficult to get respite and access services. Isolation, financial hardship, depression, stress, poor health and exclusion from paid work remain hallmarks of many carers’ lives” said Catherine Cox, Head of Communications, Family Carers Ireland, speaking at today’s launch.
“With an ageing population, care in the home is one of the biggest health service issues facing the incoming Government. We are asking politicians to commit to investing in and implementing real supports for family carers that fit with the realities of caring in Ireland today.”
Family Carers Ireland are asking candidates to make five key commitments for family carers:
Today’s launch heard presentations from family carer, Rosemary Kratschmar, and young carer, Jamie Mooney.
Rosemary Kratschmar, mum of four, cares for her son Sammy (23) who is a person with Down syndrome. Rosemary has had many battles over the years for Sammy’s health and education entitlements and feels very strongly that all parents of children with special needs should have an automatic right to a Medical Card. Sammy will require care for life and Rosemary feels that the mental and physical health of family carers is of huge importance and something that requires support as so much depends on just one carer.
Young Carer of the Year, Jamie Mooney (19) has provided care since he was six years old for his mother, Sabrina, who has Epilepsy. Jamie, from Shankill, Co. Dublin, also has his own health issues and is being treated for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He is asking Government to help support Ireland’s “hidden army” of young carers.
For further information please contact:
Catherine Cox, Head of Communications, Family Carers Ireland, 086 852 1611 / ccox@familycarers.ie
Mary Tallent Phelan, Purcell Masterson, 085 801 8946 / mary@purcellmasterson.com
(Photography by Mark Stedman, Photocall Ireland, 01 874 7124)
Editorial Note:
*A study commissioned by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs published in 2016 shows that 11.9 percent of 10-17 year olds surveyed (n= 11,870) said they provide regular unpaid personal help for a family member with a long-term illness, health problem or disability. If extrapolated out to the national population this would mean that some 56,118 young people in the 10-17 year age group alone provide regular unpaid care.