Male carers “Must seek help.”

[wendy]

Men’s Health Week – 15th to 21th June 2015
Male carers “Must seek help.”
Thousands of male carers in Norfolk may be struggling because they find it difficult to talk about their caring role and don’t seek the support that they need.
Around 42% of the county’s 95,000 carers are male.
Local carer Alan (67) is looking after his wife Rita (68), who is in a wheelchair and has emphysema he says:
“You don’t feel that you want to burden other people, but I did admit that I was finding it difficult to cope with cooking from scratch and so got help from my daughter and also took some cooking lessons. Carers like me shouldn’t keep it to themselves but must go out and seek help.”
A report by the Carers Trust and Men’s Health Forum* found that male carers under 65 years old, in England are more likely to visit their GP than the rest of the male population, visiting four times per year – but despite this their health is often still poor and many are not identified as being male carers and so do not get support.
Moira Burton, CAP locality leader from Norwich and Central Norfolk MIND says:
“The male carers we see have often bottled up the practical and emotional difficulties they face and just struggle on without seeking help, until it makes them unwell. We would urge male carers to get in touch and talk to us as there is a lot of information, advice, practical and emotional support available for them.”
The CAP Helpline for carers is available on 0808 808 9876 and the website is; www. carersagencypartnership.org.uk .
End
Notes for Editors:

For more information/interview contact:
Kevin Vaughan – CAP Manager Tel: 07747 777 243.

Reference: Report by the Mens’ Health Forum and Carers Trust https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/male ... -son-carer

[annie]

go90