deafPLUS Carer Service

A carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without their support.

Anyone could be a carer – a 16-year-old girl looking after a parent with a disability, a 40-year-old man caring for his partner who has terminal cancer, or an 80-year-old woman looking after her husband who has dementia.

If that is you, we can support you:

1. Information and Advice – Caring can lead to poverty if you have to give up work to care for your partner or family member. Our BSL Advice Helpline can assess whether you can claim Carer’s Allowance but there are many other benefits and credits that you may be able to get. Contact the BSL Advice Helpline via skype, facetime or oovoo to find out more. In addition, the helpline will be able to signpost you to:
   1. your local Social Services for a Carers Assessment,
   2. a local Carers Centre to provide you with respite,
   3. deafPLUS’ PA Community Support Service for a PA (Personal Assistant),
   4. and any other information you might need to support you in your caring role.
2. Carers Assessment and Advocacy – A carer’s assessment is a chance to discuss your needs with your local council. The assessment is free and your local council will use it to decide what support to give you. The Care Act 2014 aims to strengthen the voice of people who use services, and their carers, over the process of assessing, planning and safeguarding. Local authorities need to commission independent advocacy services to support people who may require it. deafPLUS provides an Independent Advocacy service and you can read more about it here.
3. Health & Wellbeing – deafPLUS provides health & wellbeing activities at all it’s centres. For example, we organise social gatherings, activities, outings, bingo groups, and many more. Contact us to find out how we can support you.
4. Getting a break – Being a carer can be hard work and you might need to take a break sometimes. Respite can mean different things to different carers, it can mean:
   • getting more paid help at home – this could be via paid workers helping with care or getting more help with tasks around the home. deafPLUS can do this via our PA Community Support Service.
   • getting someone to keep the person you care for company whilst you go out,
   • doing something you enjoy,
   • you, or the person you care for, taking part in activities outside the home.

Make sure you ask for a carer’s assessment as it looks at the support you need to carry on caring – this could include regular respite and breaks.