Carers UK
Carers UK is a really helpful website with lots of useful information.
Supporting adult carers
This NICE guideline covers support for adults (aged 18 and over) who provide unpaid care for anyone aged 16 or over with health or social care needs. It aims to improve the lives of carers by helping health and social care practitioners identify people who are caring for someone and give them the right information and support. It covers carers’ assessments, practical, emotional and social support and training, and support for carers providing end of life care. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng150
Insights
An extremely useful and informative book called Insights which is written by Professor Joanna Zakrzewska, a facial pain consultant at the UCLH NHS Foundation Trust. This is available direct from the TNA UK. Insights is a comprehensive handbook which covers many issues such as what may cause TN, dental aspects, medications and surgeries, alternative and complementary therapies and a lot more. It also contains some tips on how to cope both as the patient and a carer.
Pain Concern
Pain Concern Carer Community Forum
Pain Concern, an Edinburgh-based charity, assists people living with chronic pain, and provides support for them and their families, friends and carers. They have recently set up the Pain Concern Carer Community Forum for young carers aged 16-25 across the UK, caring for someone with chronic pain. The Carer Community aims to provide an online space where young people can keep in touch with each other, share their experiences and also ask questions which will be taken to our expert panel and answered later on our website.
Here is a link to the forum and for more information: http://painconcern.org.uk/how-we-help/pain-concern-carer-community/.
The Carer Community also shares close links with our Pain Matters magazine and the Airing Pain radio show. In June and July this year, ‘Airing Pain’ released two 30 minute podcasts focusing on young carers for people in pain. Please follow this link if you would like to take a listen! http://painconcern.org.uk/how-we-help/airing-pain/.