The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
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 …
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