Collaboration • Knowledge • Leadership
Collaboration • Knowledge • Leadership
There are celebrations across Australia for National Carers Week 2022, a week to recognise the vital work paid and unpaid carers do.
Carers - whether they be family members, friends, kin or someone introduced - are essential for many people with mental health conditions, and it's important to recognise that carers need support too.
It's a situation that Dr Caroline Lambert notes carries not only predictable stressors, but plenty of unrecognised burdens, too. She writes about her experiences as a young carer in 'From Time Slips to Visceral Disquiet' for Croakey.
"The experience of supporting someone is sometimes portrayed as an act of altruistic, selfless benevolence... This one-dimensional depiction does no favours in representing the diverse and intersectional identity and experience of carers, nor to consumers, whose relationships with that person or persons, may be characterised by violence, misery, or suffering," she writes.
One particularly vulnerable group is young carers, who may not recognise that they are acting in the carer role until well after the fact. Without support, these young people experience less favourable health, mental health and educational outcomes.
To help raise recognition of young carers and offer the support they need, National Carers Week has developed a resource for school and support staff, which can be accessed here. The organisation is also encouraging people to record their experiences this week and tag @youngcarersnetwork on Instagram.
National Carers Week is showcasing resources for carers, including resources for workplaces to provide support, and events that are happening throughout the week.
Receive all the latest MHV news plus key headlines, events and opportunities from across the sector.
Level 6, 136 Exhibition Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000
+61 (3) 9519 7000
ABN: 79 174 342 927
Mental Health Victoria acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as traditional custodians of the land on which it operates. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging, and value the rich history, unbroken culture and ongoing connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to country.
Mental Health Victoria acknowledges those people touched directly and indirectly by mental health vulnerabilities, trauma, suicide and neurodiversity, and their families, kin, friends and carers. We acknowledge the ongoing contribution of those people in the mental health sector.
Mental Health Victoria values diversity. We advocate for a safe and inclusive society for all people, regardless of their ethnicity, faith, disability, sexuality, or gender identity, and uphold these values in all we do.
©
All rights reserved.
Website by Snaffle.