Australia is a marvellous country in so many ways. As volunteers we excel. In 2020, approximately 5 million Australians aged 15 and over formally volunteered. The volunteering rate is 24.8% nationally, with the highest rates seen in outer regional and remote areas (28.2%) compared to major cities (24.4%).
There are 3 million unpaid carers in our country, unfortunately many of them have a reduced health rate, than the rest of the population. Common challenges that carers experience include health and wellbeing challenges, social isolation and financial hardship.
Adequate support helps ensure caregivers continue to provide high-quality care to their loved ones while maintaining their own mental and physical health. This support can take many forms, including emotional support, education and training, and access to resources.
Research has shown that there are tremendous benefits in having a network of supportive relationships: those with robust social support networks have better health, longer lives, and report higher well-being.
With thanks to https://www.carersnsw.org.au/about-caring/impacts-of-caring for providing more information.
Impacts of caring
Caring for a family member or friend can be very rewarding, but it also has its challenges. Carers are more likely than other Australians to experience a range of health, wellbeing and socioeconomic issues, and many are not able to access the support they need.
The rewards of caring
The most common reason carers give for taking on a caring role is a sense of family responsibility (70.1%).1 Yet for most carers it is more than just a duty. Providing care can be rewarding in many ways:
- The satisfaction of knowing you have helped someone who needs you and that you have done the best you could to improve their quality of life
- Strengthening the relationship with the person you care for and knowing how much they appreciate your help
- The opportunity for personal growth and the development of new skills
- Proving to yourself that you can meet new challenges
- Receiving the acknowledgement of your family and friends
1 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers
The challenges of caring
Caring can, however, take a lot of time, energy and resources. Without the right support in place, caring responsibilities can take over, and start affecting carers’ health and wellbeing and limiting their ability to participate in paid work, family life and social and community activities.
It is important to recognise the challenges caring so that carers can seek support when they need it. It is also important for families, communities, service providers, governments and employers to understand the challenges of caring so that the support options available can be continually expanded and improved.
Carers NSW regularly makes recommendations to the NSW and Australian governments about policy and program changes that will reduce or address the challenges that carers experience.
