Lone Carer - Coronavirus

[DSSmith]

I'm a lone carer for my younger sister. No family nearby. I am very anxious what will happen if I or she becomes ill with the Coronavirus?

We take care to follow hygiene rules but I am still very concerned.

[Sarah_Mencap]

Hello DSSmith

Thank you for posting on here. It is a very strange time and many people are having to think about this sort of thing.

Here are a few ideas

* make sure your local council knows that you are a carer and that you are caring for your sister on your own.

* do you have any friends nearby that could help? Perhaps they could help with shopping and other essentials. They may also be able to be moral support for you and your sister.

* as a carer it would be great if you got in touch with your local carers centre. They won't be meeting people face to face at the moment - but they are likely to be offering help by email or over the phone.

Carers UK also have some good advice that might help - carersuk.org/help-and-advic...

I'd also suggest that you get in touch with our helpline to see if they have any other ideas. They are busy at the moment but you can still get in touch with them using their online contact form - mencap.org.uk/contact/conta...

I really hope this helps a like.

Cheers

Sarah

[DSSmith in reply to Sarah_Mencap]

Thanks Sarah, your reply helped.

[Charlie2750 Community friend]

Hello DSSmith

These times are very scary but if you are careful there is no reason to suspect you will become poorly with Corona virus.

To get this virus you should have been in contact with someone who has proved positive or has symptoms.The virus is in droplets which are sneezed or coughed out and you would need to have been very near someone for this to happen.

This is why the NHS and the Government are telling people who are vulnerable to stay at home.There are local volunteers that could do shopping for you if you were desperate or fitted the criteria for help.

Eat normally drink plenty and go out for a walk each day but stay away from other people.(2 meters away)That is because some people appear to spit when talking and droplets can spray..But that is only if they are poorly but ideally they should be indoors.

Stay safe stay indoors.and if you touch anything that could have been touched by anyone else wash your hands. Stay healthy.

[DSSmith in reply to Charlie2750]

Thanks Charlie, this helps

[petejmarshall]

Good Morning DSSmith

It's good that you are looking after your sister I know that these times are very worrying for you and your Sister. But try and relax and just carry on as if the coronavisus wasn't here I mean as a carer for your sister just do what you usually do for her you could get some examination gloves power free to give you more protection and more protection for your sister as you won't be having any contact with her while caring for her. The gloves come in a box of a 100 pairs and cost about £4.00-£5.00 and you can order them online from your chemist that you use for your sister's medication but put on your order that this is a cash sale. In regards to you both catching the coronavisus if you are following the NHS and the Government advice on what to do during the coronavisus outbreak then you are cutting down on the risks of catching it yourselves. You also can get help on the NHS111 coronavisus helpline and also from care for the carers website plus this site and many others. Check out the website regularly for updates and also on the website that your sister illnesses or disabilities that she has and they will give you help and guidance on how to keep your sister and yourself safe. If I can be of any further help to you then just drop me a message on here. Keep up the good work that you are doing for your sister. Because you are helping in your own way to free up the carers and nurses to help the people who are infected by the coronavisus and are very vulnerable and unwell .

I am sure a lot of other people on this website will praise you for the good work you are doing for your sister. I say this because not everyone is able to do what you are doing for your sister and that goes to everyone else who is a carer for their loved ones or famly members.

Good luck and stop worrying about it because you might not be able to continue to care for your sister if you worry about everything. I think that you may know what I am saying there? Take care of yourselves and stay safe always. Peter

[DSSmith in reply to petejmarshall]

Thank you for your kind words Peter.

[petejmarshall in reply to DSSmith]

Your welcome DSSmith. I am glad to help where I can. Will tell you something I wanted to offer my services to the NHS nursing team. But I can't because of my health issues and that I am a Full time carer for my 20 year old son. So I can understand how you and your sister are feeling during this time. Other people have offered you some advice and most of it is good sound advice it's good to see on this website that people are coming together to help each other where they can and are able to. Just hope that the people of Great Britain stuck together how they are now. There's a lot of loney people out there and some are the elderly people who don't have any one to talk to and the only contact they have with the outside world are the healthcare providers and the weekly shopping coming to there door. Some times people misunderstand them. But one thing that people forget about is one day they might be old and how would they like to be treated by the young children of today? I remember my nursing tutor telling us all that in my group. And how true it is to day. Sorry I have gone of track a bit and I apologise for that. I speak how I feel about things and what I have learnt over the years. So anyone I can help I will. Keep safe always. Peter

[SamCJ66]

I'm in a similar boat - my son's dad lives 20 miles away. We've been self isolating for 2 weeks today and I've been lucky enough to secure deliveries for this and next week. I got in touch with the Royal Voluntary Service (email [e-mail]) and was assigned a volunteer to pick up some shopping and prescriptions etc. It's help to put my mind at rest. I find that I can concentrate my mind if I can organise, research and feel like I'm doing something (I organised a bulk egg buy for my neighbours - 600 eggs,, lol). By doing this, I feel like I've taken some control back and feel a little better about things. Hope you start to feel brighter soon.

[scarybikerpmf]

Hi there, it might be worth contacting your local Social Services just in case. My (27 year old) daughter , who has a learning disability, lives with her mum and we are part way through having a Needs Assessment completed under the Care Act. Adult Social Care contacted us several days ago to agree a Contingency Plan should her mum fall ill with the virus and become unable to care for our daughter. I live many miles away, so although I might be able to stay in contact over the 'phone, it would be insufficient to guarantee the health and safety of our daughter. Under certain circumstances our daughter could come and stay with me but that would depend on the isolation rules being applied at the time, of course.

CONTACT your ADULT SOCIAL SERVICES in the local council.

[DSSmith in reply to scarybikerpmf]

Thanks ScaryBiker,

Thankfully my sister's social worker has been in touch and I told her about my fears. She gave me her mobile number and said to call her immediately if I should get ill and she would arrange emergency care for Sharon, either in our home or at a residential centre.

That's some relief.

Perhaps I'm worrying a bit too much - we're not going to supermarkets or shops, when we go for a walk it's in a forest path and we do the social distancing if we see other people so we are probably not likely to catch the virus - I hope!

But it's a worry nevertheless.

[I_am_a_sibling Survey Community friend in reply to DSSmith]

Really good to hear the social worker was supportive. Fx

[I_am_a_sibling Survey Community friend]

Hi DSSmith , it's completely understandable to be worried at this time. How are you getting on? Hope you're both doing OK. Fx