Support and advice for carers next week

CARERS are being invited to two events next week aimed at sharing information about the support available.

NHS Rotherham has organised both events as part of Carers Week, which runs from June 14 to 20 and seeks to ensure that carers look after themselves as well as the person they care for.

Both events will take part on Monday (14)- the first a Coffee Morning at Carers Corner, 2 Drummond Street, near Rotherham Central Library, between 10am and 2pm.  

Carers will be offered the chance to have a mini-health check, with the help of Rotherham Community Health Services cardiac nurses, speech and language therapists and primary ear care nurses.  

Advice will also be available from Macmillan Cancer Support.

The second, at 4.30pm, will see the launch of a dvd which will be the first in a series of short films being produced by NHS Rotherham, in partnership with carers and supporting organisations, to encourage carers to access help, information and support.

The films will be individually released over the next few months and used in GP and health centre waiting areas, as well as borough council premises.

Helen Wyatt, patient and public engagement manager at NHS Rotherham, said:

"This project has been driven and directed by carers throughout, the stories they have to tell are extremely powerful, and we hope they will have real impact on encouraging people to recognise where they are more than wives, husbands, parents or friends, and where they are in fact offering care and support to loved ones.

"Many carers fail to look after their own health, and we would like to remind carers that taking care of themselves is as important as caring for a loved one.  We know that many carers experience health problems as a result of caring, including depression and back problems."