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When Caring Ends

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When Caring Ends

At Trafford Carers Centre, you are entitled to up to two more years of support after you have finished caring.

Find the section you need:

  1. Caring for someone who is in a care home
  2. Coping with grief when someone you care for dies
  3. Check your benefits
  4. Getting back to work
  5. Resources on how to support children and young people through Bereavement

Caring for someone who is in a care home

If you look after someone who moves into a care home permanently it does not necessarily mean that you stop being a carer. You may still spend a lot of time visiting the person you care for in their care home, helping with care and keeping the person you care for company.

You should still have a carer’s assessment if you find caring continues to play a big part in your life.

Your benefits may be affected if the person you care for moves permanently into a care home. Contact your local carer service to see how your benefits might be affected.

Once the person you care for lives in a care home you can continue to be involved in decisions about their care. Talk to the staff at the care home and make sure they know that you are a carer and wish to be involved.

The Relatives and Residents Association is a national charity for older people in or needing care and their relatives and friends who help them. It has a helpline where you can get free, expert advice about anything to do with older people and care homes. It also has free factsheets that you can download, including ones about rights.

Coping with grief when the person you care for passes away

Grief affects people differently but make sure you get some bereavement support if the person you care for passes away.

When you are first bereaved you may be overwhelmed by your emotions, or you may have a natural tendency to avoid your feelings and react in a more controlled way to your loss.

Coping with your grief will mean trying to find a balance between your emotions and managing practical day to day life. This can be especially hard if you are dealing with other pressures such as caring for your children; dealing with finances, employment or housing worries; or facing physical or mental health issues of your own.

Bereavement brings a number of different losses:

  • The loss of the person and the relationship you had with them.
  • The loss of the role you had as carer and the purpose and identity this gave you.
  • The loss of, or disconnection from, some the things you may have given up or lost while you were a carer. This could include losing touch with friends or work.

Don’t isolate yourself

The support you get from your family, friends and neighbours may help you find new meaning in this life changing experience you have had. Make sure you talk to people and don’t cut yourself off. Your friends and family probably want to support you but may not know how to do this. Try to accept help when it is offered, even if this is just enjoying a meal that someone else has made for you.

Our Bereavement Support

We are connecting other bereaved carers with a bereavement 'drop-in group'.

Carers will be able to drop in and out as they feel, and there will be a particular topic set by the Counselling Family Centre each week. See our groups and activities calendar to find out the monthly topic.

We now have closed support groups for carers going through bereavement at the Family Counselling Centre in Altrincham. If you are going through bereavement and feel you'd like to be involved in the group, then please complete the form below.

My son died 27 years ago, and I had one-to-one counselling, but I found this so much better because, it sounds silly, but it wasn’t so serious. We can grieve and cry, but we can also laugh - it’s good to be with people who understand. - Carer R

If you are interested, please fill out the 'Get in Touch' form below and someone will get in touch with more details.

Find out when is the next group

Couple sitting on the park benchCheck you are claiming the right benefits

Your benefits might change if you are no longer a carer, or don't spend as much time caring as you did.

We have more information about money and benefits and your local carer service may have someone you can talk to about your situation. You could also use Carers Trust online benefits calculator (supplied by Turn2us) or get in touch with Citizen's Advice.

Getting back to work

If you are ready for a new challenge you could consider getting into work, studying and training, or volunteering.

Resources on how to support children and young people through Bereavement

  1. A leaflet setting out local and national bereavement resources for children and young people (PDF)
  2. Link to our blog signposting to books for bereaved children Books to Help a Grieving Child - Full Circle Funerals
  3. Link to our blog offering advice on how to support young people who have experienced online bereavement: Helping young people after online bereavement - Full Circle Funerals
  4. Advice on Bereavement support for people with learning disabilities (ataloss.org)
  5. Memory activities or continuing bonds that can be carried out with children and young people who have been bereaved:
  1. Further information on continuing bonds: Continuing Bonds - Maintaining bonds after death - Full Circle Funerals

Further Resources for those Affected by the Death of A Baby, Child or Young Person: