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Ability Superstore Blog

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June 2020 – Carers' Week – Making Caring More Visible

Posted by Michael Phipps on June 10, 2020

Two hands holding one another in a caring position

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Every year from 8 to 14 June, a national campaign, “Carers’ Week”, is held to raise awareness of the role carers have in our society – how important their work is, what their work involves, the challenges carers often face and how we can all pledge our support.

Carers care immensely about the people they look after, and they care about the work they do helping to improve the lives of vulnerable people who cannot quite manage on their own.

Carers often live with those they care for. Or, alternatively, they are paid to visit people in their own homes to help them undertake day-to-day activities. After all, home is so much better than hospitals on both a mental wellbeing and an overall health level, allowing those being cared for to feel safe and secure in the place they love and feel most comfortable in.

Carers also help to free up our National Health Service, and other healthcare professionals, to deal with others who are ill.

Ability Superstore supplies a wide range of practical products together with hints and tips on how everyday tasks can be made slightly easier with different mobility aids, helping maintain as much independence for the person being cared for as possible.

Often, the things that carers do are the essential, but simple things that most parents do when bringing up a family. Preparing food; helping with washing and dressing; listening; advising and giving words of both comfort and praise. Being there and providing the stimulation of company and conversation that makes a real difference to those feeling lonely, or down.

Around 6.5 million people in the UK are carers, and the majority of those do it voluntarily, looking after a family member, a friend, or a neighbour. Frequently, they care alongside holding down another job, or bringing up their own family.

Carers also work in nursing, or care homes, which cater for the needs of the elderly, or disabled. The carers in these homes undertake thorough training and are frequently qualified nurses, too.

If you would like more information about finding, choosing and paying for a care home, then why not go the AgeUK website and read their useful guide.

The current Coronavirus pandemic has put further pressure on carers, whether caring in the home, or within a care home.

The demand for PPE (personal protective equipment) has been well covered by the UK media and its demand continues. We are proud to have been supplying many of our individual carers and care homes with a full range of face masks, disposable aprons and gloves, disinfectant and hand sanitiser.

Being a carer certainly isn’t a one-way ticket. Caring is rewarding and satisfying and can bring many delights in a day.

So, as it’s Carers' Week, let’s celebrate the work they do and if you are a carer, we would like to say a huge “thank you” from all at Ability Superstore, particularly in these days of a national pandemic.