Our keys asks on World Mental Health Day
For World Mental Health Day on 10 October, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers has issued some key facts about mental health carers, highlighting the main issues and difficulties they face, as well as providing a set of recommendations for policy makers, outlining what we are working to achieve.
It is estimated that there are currently up to 1.5 million people in the UK caring for a relative or friend with a mental health problem, meaning that one person in 40 is a mental health carer.
Many are caring 24/7, with little or no support, training or financial aid. A recent survey by The Princess Royal Trust for Carers found that 86% of mental health carers had been offered no services in their own right before attending one of our Carers Centres.
The burden of care and support has been increasingly falling on families and friends in the UK, largely as a result of the move towards community rather than inpatient provision for mental health service users. This inadequate support needs to be addressed on a national level, however the commitment must also be carried through to local service provision.
Our main goal is for mental health carers to be recognised nationally as partners in care and for this to be reflected in local professionals’ attitudes to role of carers.
The key facts reveal just how common it is to care for a loved one with a mental health condition and detail the particular difficulties and issues that mental health carers have to cope with.
You can also download our full policy stance and key asks for mental health carers. These changes are aimed at helping both service users and carers and enabling mental health carers to make informed choices about the level of care they can safely provide.
Read the Key Facts and Asks for Mental Health Carers
All our Carers Centres offer support to those looking after someone with a mental health condition and 39 of them have specialist mental health carers support staff, who link to local social care and health services.