Dosanjh, where were YOU when I needed you? Ah well, I'm in Australia, I guess I wouldn't have got your message anyway. When I had to give up work to become a full time carer for my Mum, I went into panic mode. Fortunately I went straight to social services and they told me I was eligible to receive a carer's pension, which was a great relief - I didn't even know about carer's pensions. But NO one told me about my rights to respite for TWO YEARS! For the first year she was desperately ill and I couldn't leave the house for more than half an hour at a time, in the second year I could at least spend an hour doing the weekly grocery shopping, but it took 2 years to discover that I could utilise the local council to get trained sitters at low cost to give me time away from the house. To ME, that would really get my attention, but I don't know if this is one of the services you offer. If it is, it's a biggie - carers often feel cso isolated because they can't get out and have time for themselves.
I even phoned the local Senior Citizens Club and asked them if I could leave my Mum there one day now and then, and was there someone available to take her to the toilet while there, and they rudely informed me that they were NOT a baby sitting service! Not a sympathetic word about getting carers in to help out.
So MY input, for what it's worth on the other side of the world, would be something like "is caring for a loved one preventing you from getting a little time for yourself now and then? WE have trained professionals who can help!"
:-))
