{"id":41,"date":"2021-10-06T09:24:20","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T09:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/?page_id=41"},"modified":"2024-03-05T11:07:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T11:07:47","slug":"life-after-caring","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/index.php\/help-and-advice\/life-after-caring\/","title":{"rendered":"Life after caring"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"content\">\n<p>Whether you have been a carer for just a few weeks, or for many years, changes to your role as a\u00a0carer can have a huge and lasting effect on your life.<\/p>\n<p>Your caring role may have come to an end for a number of reasons including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the person you care for has recovered and become independent again<\/li>\n<li>the person you care for has moved into residential or nursing care<\/li>\n<li>you may have made a decision that you are no longer able to continue caring<\/li>\n<li>you may be leaving home, going to college or starting work<\/li>\n<li>you may require care yourself<\/li>\n<li>bereavement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Friends and family can often help you through the changes, but you may feel that you would also\u00a0benefit from the advice, help and support of others. The end of an active\u00a0caring role can impact on carers&#8217; lives, practically, emotionally and financially.<\/p>\n<h2>Managing money and financial issues<\/h2>\n<p>Your change of circumstances could affect the amount of money, including benefits, that you are\u00a0entitled to, and you may need to notify various organisations or government departments about\u00a0the changes to your circumstances. It is important to do this as soon as possible.<\/p>\n<p>If the change in your circumstances is due to a bereavement, you can use the <a class=\" inlinelink id13805\" title=\"Gov.uk: Tell Us Once\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/after-a-death\/organisations-you-need-to-contact-and-tell-us-once\">Gov.uk: Tell Us Once<\/a>\u00a0service. The service will contact various government services to enable them to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>work out final payments of benefits for the person who has died (including the state pension\u00a0and tax credits)<\/li>\n<li>make arrangements for income tax, National Insurance and council tax<\/li>\n<li>cancel the passport and\/or driving licence of the person who has died<\/li>\n<li>make arrangements about council housing and Blue Badge schemes<\/li>\n<li>make sure the person&#8217;s name is removed from the electoral register<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If your caring role has ended due to other circumstances you will need to contact services yourself\u00a0to inform them of the changes.\u00a0If you&#8217;re unsure which organisations you need to tell and what you need to tell them,\u00a0contact your local\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensadvice.org.uk\/\">Citizen&#8217;s Advice Bureau<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dccarers.org\/\">Durham County Carers Support<\/a>\u00a0for help.<\/p>\n<h2>Emotional support and coping with your feelings<\/h2>\n<p>Adjusting to the end of your caring role is not easy and you may find that you experience a\u00a0range of emotions. There is no &#8216;right&#8217; or &#8216;normal&#8217; way to feel, but the following are all common\u00a0feelings reported by carers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>guilt<\/li>\n<li>loss, grief or sadness<\/li>\n<li>relief at getting your life back<\/li>\n<li>anger, resentment or unfairness<\/li>\n<li>emptiness or loneliness, loss of confidence<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Whatever the situation, it is important to remember that you are not alone. It may take time\u00a0and can be very difficult, but you can find emotional support and assistance to help you think\u00a0about what to do next.<\/p>\n<p>Organisations who could help you think about your future:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/carers.org\/\">Carers Trust<\/a>\u00a0give information, advice, discussion and support to carers.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carersuk.org\/forum\">Carers UK: forum<\/a>\u00a0can be a source of help and support.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruse.org.uk\/\">Cruse Bereavement Care<\/a>\u00a0provide telephone and email support for people who have been\u00a0bereaved.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcf.org.uk\/\">Compassionate Friends<\/a> provide support for bereaved parents and their families by those similarly bereaved.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.samaritans.org\/\">Samaritans<\/a>\u00a0provide confidential emotional support for people who are experiencing feelings\u00a0of distress, despair or suicidal thoughts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Returning to work<\/h2>\n<p>Many carers find that when their caring role ends they have trouble regaining a sense of\u00a0purpose and if your caring responsibilities prevented you from working you may want to start\u00a0to work, or return to work.<\/p>\n<p>Many people who have been out of work for a period of time feel that their skills are out of date, they have lost confidence or think that a gap in work on their CV will leave them at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n<p>However, as a former carer, you are likely to have developed new transferrable skills that will fit\u00a0with the needs of potential employers who will find your caring role a positive feature on your\u00a0job application.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nationalcareers.service.gov.uk\/\">National Careers Service<\/a>\u00a0is a free, confidential service providing information, impartial\u00a0advice and guidance to help you make decisions on career and learning\/training opportunities.\u00a0The service&#8217;s qualified advisors can offer advice on learning and work issues, help you explore\u00a0which careers would suit you best, provide tips on searching for a job and assist you to improve\u00a0your interview skills, helping you take control of your learning and work life.<\/p>\n<p>Telephone calls are free, or you have a live web chat on their website. Lines are open 8.00am to 10.00pm, 7 days a week.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.learndirect.com\">Learndirect<\/a>\u00a0offer training courses at locations nationwide. Courses are broken down into bitesize chunks, so you can learn at your own pace.<\/p>\n<p>Durham County Council offers a range of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durham.gov.uk\/durhamlearncourses\">adult learning courses<\/a>\u00a0to help you brush up on your basic skills or become qualified in a completely new area of work. Some courses are free for everyone and some are free depending on your circumstances.<\/p>\n<h2>The Care Academy<\/h2>\n<p>Starting a career in County Durham&#8217;s social care sector can be very rewarding. There are lots of different roles depending on what you want to do, who you want to work with and where you&#8217;d like to work. There are lots of flexible ways for you to develop your skills and experience and opportunities for further training, promotion and progression.<\/p>\n<p>Take a look at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durham.gov.uk\/routeways\">training opportunities<\/a> available from The Care Academy to get you started in your new career. Please note these courses are only available to people pursuing social care opportunities in County Durham.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you have been a carer for just a few weeks, or for many years, changes to your role as a\u00a0carer can have a huge and lasting effect on your life. Your caring role may have come to an end for a number of reasons including: the person you care for has recovered and become [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":369,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-41","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":541,"href":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41\/revisions\/541"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhamcarers.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}