FAMILY Carers Ireland in Clare has revealed there has been an increase in demand for its counselling service with carers “mentally and physically fatigued to the point of burnout”.

According to David O’Connor, Family Carers Ireland Carer Supports Manager in Clare some carers do not even have the time to come in person to counselling sessions, instead using the service by phone.

“That is how much pressure they are actually under, they are under huge amounts, and time is just such a finite resource. It just continues to add to their stress.”

He believes more needs to be done to support carers, saying “joined up thinking” and a holistic approach is needed across all sectors including government, the HSE and Family Carers Ireland.

A minimum amount of respite hours per month per family would go some way towards alleviating the strain on carers, he adds.

He was speaking in light of recently released results of a study by researchers at University of Limerick showing that the chronic stress of caring can have a damaging effect on the health of caregivers.

They discovered that while carers did not have any illnesses as the study began, they were more prone to illness in the following eight years in comparison to those people who do not provide care to others.

Mr O’Connor told the Champion the results are “confirming what we all know”.

He added, “We are seeing the strain and our counselling services and respite services are working overtime to get to people but there has to be more done.”

Family Carers Ireland recently opened its new Clare Support Centre on the Gort Road in Ennis offering services to family carers across Clare including information on rights and entitlements, counselling, and respite services.

Mr O’Connor said, “We conduct holistic needs assessments with pretty much every carer we speak to and what I have seen is that there has been an increase in demand for our counselling service.

“Carers are experiencing high levels of burnout and stress, basically, because of the lack of services.

“We understand the HSE are under tremendous pressure but since the reopening, a lot of carers have felt kind of left behind and from my own interactions with the carers I work with you can see that they are mentally and physically fatigued to the point of burnout. That has led to an increase in referrals for our counselling service.”

In Ennis carers have an opportunity to meet with a counsellor every Tuesday, though there is also an option to use the service over the phone with many carers using this option due to time and geographic constraints.

Covid-19 “compounded” the stress carers experience with many services no longer able to come to the home with Mr O’Connor saying, “The isolation really did affect carers quite acutely”.

Family Carers Ireland however continued to support carers through the pandemic through phone calls and home care visits with workers wearing protective clothing.

The findings of the UL study were published in the prestigious journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity – Health.

The research team, led by Professor Stephen Gallagher of UL with colleagues at University of Liverpool, found that caregivers who were initially healthy displayed a 33% greater risk of illness or disability just eight years later.

The researchers used data from over 471 healthy family carers and 2,151 non-carers who took part in the UK’s Understanding Society study in 2011 and 2019.

The data shows caregivers displayed higher levels of ‘allostatic load’, a term referring to the negative impact of chronic stress on immune, cardiovascular and metabolic system functioning.
Higher levels of allostatic load have been found to be predictive of morbidity and mortality, which may carry further health risks for these caregivers.

Professor Stephen Gallagher, lead author and director of the Study of Anxiety Stress and Health Lab at UL, said the findings showed the likelihood that that the chronic stress of caring for others could be damaging to caregivers’ own health.

“Caregiving to a sick or disabled family member or other relative is a well-known chronic stressor, as the stresses and strains of caring can be enduring and persistent in nature,” explained Professor Gallagher.  

“When such chronic stress continues unhindered it becomes physiologically and psychologically toxic for the body, and this is what this study suggests,” he added.

Using the data, the researchers examined whether those carers who participated would have greater dysregulation in immune, cardiovascular and metabolic functioning, i.e. higher levels of allostatic load in 2011, as well as greater risk of being diagnosed with a chronic health condition eight-years later.

The authors found that in these previously disease free groups, 24% of  carers  compared to 16.5% of non-carers  reported having a chronic health condition such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma at follow-up in 2019.

Carers had a 33% greater risk of developing a chronic condition. Moreover, allostatic load was associated with this excess risk and more interestingly, when the authors checked to see if it mattered for health if someone continued caring or stopped caring in 2011 it did not – implying that there seems to be a health scarring effect of caring that goes beyond its cessation.

Professor Kate Bennett, from the University of Liverpool, a co-author on the study, said that these results “highlight the relevance of supporting family carers early on, as they deal with the stresses and strains of caring.

“This is really important as the economic costs associated with family caring run into billions annually, and if family carers get ill themselves and are unable to care for their loved ones, then that will cost the exchequer as institutionalisation is more likely.”

Dr Nikki Dunne, Research Officer with Family Carers Ireland, added, “From our daily interactions with family carers right across Ireland, we can clearly see the negative impact that caring can have on a person’s health and wellbeing.

“When someone has to constantly battle for essential supports and services, this health risk is exacerbated.

“The cost to family carers of not being properly supported or recognised by the State is isolation, poor health and increasingly, carer burnout.”