Who Cares?

WHO CARES?

CONNECT - for mid-week/Home League groups

Service Session - Special Days

Second week in June: Carers Week

Summary

Invite a carer to share about their caring role
Make cards or simple gifts
As recipients of God's love and care we are also challenged to love and care for others

Invite a carer to come to share about their caring role
Provide members with pens and paper
Provide card, pens and embellishments to make cards or simple gifts for carers, eg seed hearts
Plan an event together to support carers in your community
For additional statistics/information on carers see:
- Ons.gov.uk
- Carersuk.org

‘Carers Week [in June] is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. It also helps people who don’t think of themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify as carers and access much-needed support.’

carersweek.org

The number of unpaid carers in the UK has been steadily increasing year-on-year; the 2021 Census recorded approximately 4.7 million unpaid carers in England and approximately 310,000 in Wales. This means that around nine per cent of people are providing unpaid care. However Carers UK research in 2022 estimated the number of unpaid carers could be as high as 10.6 million (Carers UK, Carers Week 2022 research report).

Caring can have a significant impact on health and wellbeing and there is increasing evidence that caring should be considered a social determinant of health (Public Health England, Caring as a Social Determinant of Health, 2021).

According to the 2021 Census there were approximately 120,000 young unpaid carers (aged between 5 and 17 years) in England (1.4 per cent of 5-17 year-olds) and 8,200 in Wales (1.8 per cent of 5-17 year-olds).

Overall, females were statistically significantly more likely to provide unpaid care than males in every age group up to 75 to 79 years; however, from the age of 80 years onwards, males were statistically significantly more likely to provide unpaid care.

In addition to all the unpaid caring, according to Employers for Carers, carers make up 11 per cent of the total UK workforce, which is equivalent to one in every nine employees.

As followers of Jesus, we are all called to care for others, and we know that caring is very much part of The Salvation Army’s DNA. However, as these figures show, within every corps community there will be people who work in caring professions and those who are responsible for the caring of a relative or friend. In this session we are looking at how we can care for the carers.

SPEAKER

Invite someone to come and speak about being a paid or unpaid carer. Ask them to share about their day and the responsibilities of caring and how the group could support them.

PUZZLE

Hand out pens and paper and give members three minutes to write down as many words associated with ‘caring’ that they can think of. This can be done in small groups or individually.

QUIZ

Read out the definition of each caring role and ask members to identify the caring profession being described.

Who assesses and plans care for patients by providing specific pre- and post-operative care and monitors/administers medication?

(Nurse)
Who helps people and families to live happier, more fulfilling lives, encourages them to live independently, and aims to protect them from harm or abuse?

(Social Worker)
Who uses specific activities to limit the effects of disability and aims to promote independence in all aspects of life?

(Occupational Therapist)
Who helps patients work through difficult times in their lives – for instance if they’ve recently lost a loved one or are coming to terms with a long-term disability? They also help them make positive changes and improve their own mental wellbeing.

(Counsellor/Therapist)
Who helps people live more independently – that could mean helping with social and physical activities, booking appointments or helping shower and dress clients?

(Care Assistant / Worker)
Who examines patients, assessing and reviewing their medical histories and addressing any concerns they may express when in care? They also inform patients of a diagnosis and work with them through treatment plans.

(Doctor)
Who helps people live more independently after they’ve been ill or had an accident? This could be adults with learning disabilities, people with sight or hearing loss, mental health problems or drug misuse issues.

(Rehabilitation Worker)
Who assesses what health needs different people might have, and helps families, children and the wider community by promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing illness?

(Health Visitor)
Who responds to emergency 999 calls by driving safely and quickly to the scene? Once there, they assess the patient and provide the necessary diagnoses, administer medication, carry out emergency treatment and transport the patient to the hospital if required.

(Paramedic)
Who helps to restore movement and function when someone is affected by injury, illness or disability and helps to reduce risk of injury or illness in the future? They also take a holistic approach that involves the patient directly in their own care.

(Physiotherapist)

CRAFT

Make cards or small gifts (like seed hearts) for members to give to carers they know, assuring them of their support and prayers. This could be a focus during Carers Week in June.

PLAN

Discuss together and plan how the group could show support to unpaid carers in your community. Perhaps you could hold a coffee morning or afternoon tea during Carers Week and invite carers to come.

Throughout the Bible we read of God’s care for us. Within history (his story) we find many promises of reassurance concerning his protection and provision and see instructions of how we are to trust in his care for all things, at all times.

‘Our Lord is kind. He is faithful and caring, and he saves us.’

(Psalm 40:10 CEV)

‘I pray that God will take care of all your needs with the wonderful blessings that come from Christ Jesus!’

(Philippians 4:19 CEV)

‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.’

(1 Peter 5:7)

Such loving care has helped many of us through the most difficult circumstances of life and we are grateful for God’s faithfulness through it all. However, by being recipients of God’s love and care we are also challenged as his people to love and care for others.

‘Everyone should take care of all their own people. Most important, they should take care of their own family.’

(1 Timothy 5:8 Easy-to-Read Version)

‘Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too.’

(Philippians 2:4 ERV)

Today we have been especially thinking about those people who choose a caring profession and those who are unpaid carers for family and friends. In both of these situations carers need to be appreciated and cared for themselves. Many of us will remember ‘clapping for carers’ every Thursday evening during the pandemic of 2020. However, it is particularly easy for unpaid carers to be invisible and for people not to appreciate just how difficult life can be when you are caring for a loved one 24/7.

Research undertaken by Carers UK in 2022 estimates the number of unpaid carers could be as high as 10.6 million and that caring can have a significant impact on health and wellbeing. 60 per cent of carers report a long-term health condition or disability compared to 50 per cent of non-carers (Carers UK analysis of GP Patient Survey 2021), and over a quarter of carers (29 per cent) often or always feel lonely (Carers UK, State of Caring 2022).

Unpaid carers in England and Wales contribute a staggering £445 million to the economy every day – that’s £162 billion per year. The value of unpaid care is equivalent to a second NHS in England and Wales, which in 2020/21 received an estimated £164 billion in funding (Petrillo and Bennett, 2023).

So, who cares for the carers? Is there something we can do to show those in our family, our community and in our church that we care about carers? Let’s take up the challenge as individuals, and as a group, to give extra support to those we know who are carers and to reach out to find those who are feeling lonely and isolated.

PRAYER

Father God, you know that caring is a big responsibility, and it can be exhausting. We pray for those who care for babies and small children, for people with disabilities, for older people, and for those who are ill.

Please strengthen and help them today.

We thank you for everyone who cares for us and ask that you will show us how we can better care for others.

Help us remember just how much we are cared for by you.

Amen.