A carer’s support network

You have just reflected on factors that might help or hinder carers. Now it’s time to think about the support network that is available to them. We all need some help to get to where we want to be in life. This can come from a range of sources, both in work and outside work.

In your organisation, think about the support available for carers. This could include:

  • supportive policies
  • flexible working options
  • support and supervision
  • information on the staff intranet
  • a carers’ group.

Outside work, who could help to support carers to manage their caring role:

  • family members?
  • friends?
  • peer support from fellow carers?
  • local carers centre?
  • other organisations or activities?

Look at the spider diagram in Figure 4.6. This shows a range of possible supports a carer might have.

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Figure 4.6 Map of carer’s potential support network
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This diagram represents the people and organisations that could form part of a carer’s support network. It is a spray diagram of fourteen boxes arranged around a central box, like the numbers on a clock face connected by the spokes of a wheel to the centre. In the centre of the spider diagram is a box reading ‘Carer’. Arrows radiate out from ‘Carer’ leading to different boxes, each illustrating a source of potential support available. These are listed as they appear in a clockwise direction, starting from the top of the diagram with ‘Carer’s spouse’. Each source of support is in a different box. The others are: ‘siblings’, ‘other extended family members’, ‘friends’, ‘flexible working policies’, ‘colleagues’, ‘employer’, ‘other carers’, ‘neighbours’, the ‘local carers centre’, ‘social services support worker’, ‘parents’, ‘financial institutions’ and, finally, back at the top of the diagram, ‘online forums/discussion groups’.

Figure 4.6 Map of carer’s potential support network

Factors that might help or hinder carers

A culture of support