Families & carers

A family support service for children with disabilities and their loved ones has secured funding to ensure it can continue its vital role in the Gwent community. Sparkle works with hundreds of children and young people with disabilities and development difficulties to enable them participate in activities to give the same range of opportunities, life [...]

Writing letters to loved ones as they were before their brain injury may help families understand and cope with the complex grief that often follows, researchers have found. A pilot study explored how a structured writing exercise could support families dealing with “ambiguous grief” – a form of grief experienced when someone is physically present [...]

A charity which works with young people with disabilities and their families is increasing the support available to them after securing funding to finance a new specialist role in its team. Grace House now has a dedicated Family Support Officer, who will work closely with families to understand their specific needs and look to identify [...]

By Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist at PJ Care, Estefania Triguero Throughout my 15-year career in neurorehabilitation, understanding a patient as a unique individual has always been key. Whether they have a neurological condition or an acquired brain injury caring for that individual requires a compassionate, holistic and person-centred approach. A patient’s family and friends typically play [...]

The Child Brain Injury Trust has announced the launch of its newly restructured Legal Support Service which provides free, independent legal advice to families and young people affected by childhood-acquired brain injury (ABI). When a child acquires a brain injury, the effects can be life-altering. Families are often left facing difficult legal decisions about education, [...]

By Beata Roberts, Case Manager, ILS Case Management Becoming a parent is a significant change in anybody’s life. It requires a resilience and flexible thinking around new routines as well as adjusting to being responsible for a baby. It is a journey filled with joy, excitement and fear at the same time. Imagine for a [...]

One in two family caregivers of people with Parkinson’s are juggling their responsibilities with an estimated 37 hours a week of employment, a new report suggests.  The scale of the challenge faced on a daily basis by many family caregivers of people with Parkinson’s has been set out in a new report. It highlights the [...]

New technology and innovations in care will improve the lives of unpaid carers and care users following a funding boost announced by the Minister of State for Care. The Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, has announced a £22.6 million boost for initiatives that will improve support for unpaid carers in England, including projects [...]

New research from the University of Zurich, based on data from more than 28,000 caregivers in three countries, shows that the longer individuals spend caring for loved ones, the more their well-being suffers, regardless of the caregiving context. These findings underscore the need for policy discussions to alleviate the burden of informal care. The prevalence [...]

Americans believe volunteering to help strangers contributes more to society than providing care for family or friends, even though they contribute billions of dollars’ worth of labour in unpaid caregiving every year, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. This perception could lead Americans of lower socioeconomic status to feel like they have [...]