Are you a carer?

A carer is anyone, including children and adults who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without their support. The care they give is unpaid.

Many carers don’t see themselves as carers and it takes them an average of two years to acknowledge their role as a carer. It can be difficult for carers to see their caring role as separate from the relationship they have with the person for whom they care, whether that relationship is as a parent, child, sibling, partner, or a friend.

It’s likely that every one of us will have caring responsibilities at some time in our lives with the challenges faced by carers taking many forms. Many carers juggle their caring responsibilities with work, study and other family commitments. Some are not known to be carers; they don’t tell relatives, friends or health and care professionals about their responsibilities because of a fear of separation, guilt, pride or other reasons.

This means that the sort of roles and responsibilities that carers have to provide varies widely. They can range from help with everyday tasks such as getting out of bed and personal care such as bathing, to emotional support such as helping someone cope with the symptoms of a mental illness.

Carers and safeguarding

Carers have a range of roles regarding safeguarding – they can be the person who raises the concern, themselves be vulnerable to harm and abuse, or can be abusers themselves. Carers may be involved in situations that require a safeguarding response, including:

• Witnessing or speaking up about abuse or neglect
• Experiencing intentional or unintentional harm from the adult they are trying to support of from professionals or organisations they are in contact with
• Unintentionally or intentionally harming or neglecting the adult they support on their own or with others

The risk of deterioration in carers health and well-being as a result of their caring duties is well understood.  However, sometimes the behaviour of the person being cared for, intentionally or not, can fall into the category of abuse.  Recognising, reporting and responding to carers at risk of harm in these circumstances can be challenging and can be complicated by denial, guilt or a sense of shame in asking for help.

Factors which increase the risk of a carer being abused

Risk of abuse can increase where the carer is isolated and not getting practical and/or emotional support from their family, friends, professionals or paid carers.  Abuse is when someone causes us harm or distress.  It can take many forms, ranging from disrespect to causing someone physical or mental pain.  It can occur in someone’s home, a care home, hospital or a public place.  Sometimes abuse isn’t intentional but happens because someone doesn’t have the skills or support needed to care for someone.  That doesn’t make the impact of it any less, but it can help to understand why it happened.

It's not always easy to spot the types and indicators of abuse and neglect; link to our page on abuse types

Carer abuse/harm is more likely to occur when communication and relationships are difficult and, risk factors tend to be greater where the carer lives with a person with dementia or is a partner or close relative.

The first priority in safeguarding an adult from abuse should always be to ensure the safety and well-being of the adult affected, this includes where the adult is a carer of a vulnerable person, as well as the person being cared for. It can be difficult to disclose that you or someone you know, are being abused; if you are a carer and are at risk of harm from the person you care for, you can speak to a person you trust, for example, your friends, family, GP, nurse or social worker. Safeguarding concerns may also be reported via this link; once received, someone will contact you to discuss your concerns to see how they may be able to help you with the situation:

If you require more information, we recommend you have a look at the our page about carers which also includes details on where to go for support. LINK