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7.3. Current and Future Support Needs
It is worth noting that not all carers want or need support all of the time. For example, 51% of 1,020 carers who were offered a carers assessment by Ceredigion Social Services in 15/16 declined the offer. Just over a third (35%) of those that declined the offer reported that they were managing in their caring role so did not require any additional support.
However, the Carers Trust (2016) estimate that by 2030 the number of unpaid carers will grow by around 60% as more people live longer but with more complex needs.
The role of an unpaid carer can negatively impact a carer’s physical and mental health and their career and financial security. Carers can also experience social isolation, a lack of recognition of their caring role and their knowledge of the cared for person. Life after caring can also bring its own challenges.
Evidence suggests that:
• Providing more than 50 hours of unpaid care can increase the likelihood of self- reported poor health (Census data)
• The short and long-term impact of carer collapse can be devastating. Carers can end up in a double admission alongside their ill or disabled loved one, (Carers UK, 2014)
• Caringforsomeonewithdementiaormentalhealthneedscanhaveanevengreater impact leading to stress and frustration and a detrimental impact on carers’ physical and mental health
• Carersfrequentlyreportthattheirinvolvementincareisnotadequatelyrecognised and their expert knowledge of the ‘cared for person’ is not taken into account. A disconnected model of involvement like this can lead to carers being excluded at important points (Worthington et al, 2013); and this issue contributed to readmission of the cared for person into hospital in 62% of cases (Carers Trust Wales, 2016)
• It can be difficult for working-age carers to combine paid work with caring duties and carers may choose to quit paid work or reduce their work hours (OECD, 2011)
• Around5%or1in20peopleofworkingagecombinepaidworkwiththeirroleasan unpaid carer (Carers UK, 2013b) and yet across the region the percentage of working age people claiming Carer’s Allowance is around 2.0%. Whilst this is comparable to the Wales percentage (2.1%) in Ceredigion the uptake is lower (1.4%) (Data Unit Wales, 2015). Direct Payments to carers in their own right is also low which could be linked to the take up of assessment offers. More than a third of carers miss out on state benefits because they didn’t know they could claim for them (Carers Trust, 2016).
West Wales Population Assessment March 2017 Carers