Where is the emotional support for carers?

Photo by jigsawstocker

As the media pesters the government prematurely about their end-game for this life changing tragedy, what’s the outlook for carers who have lived with this? Those on the frontline selflessly living amongst it literally 24/7 to maintain care and reduce risk to people within and without the home?

Hearing my partner, a care home manager, unable to begin to describe her day because it’s too distressing, says so much to me about the gravity of the situation. She is one tough cookie with 30 years experience and a consummate professional. If she’s finding it overwhelming, the stress and difficulty of being the person responsible for a home is clearly off the scale. The awful reality is, many care homes have become insular communities filled with stress, fear and death.

Occupancy levels will recover quickly, but what about the psychological and emotional stain this experience will leave on these workers? Those who’ve held a hand as someone dies just an hour after the last one they held. Those seeing a resident leave in an ambulance knowing their likely fate. And those with the inner conflicts between looking after their families and/or looking after residents who are only in a care home because they can’t look after themselves.  

Initiatives to support care homes are emerging with their various agendas, yet with no reference to emotional support or mental welfare? I’m not seeing any, yet isn’t this the most important thing to look after? If people who deliver care are not able to cope and stop working, more PPE will be the least thing we need.

If the support is out there and accessible already I’m happy to be proved wrong, but if it isn’t, can those with a bigger voice than mine please push this up the priority list as a matter of immediate urgency.

#covid19, #dementiacare, #carehomes