How to Support Carers

How to Support Carers

I’m a volunteer and Personal Assistant to those living with life limiting illness or disability. As part of these roles, I’ve often had to work out how to support carers, relatives of those I work with. This can be more difficult than it sounds. Many...
Remembering your Self

Remembering your Self

It’s so easy to lose your Self when caring for a loved one. Remembering who you are and what is important to you are healthy ways to return to a balanced way of caring. Without regular time caring for yourself, it’s very easy to become externally focused...
Time to Talk

Time to Talk

When is the best time to talk and tell someone that you or a loved one has a serious or life threatening illness? When is the best time to talk? Our first instinct when we hear bad news is to protect our loved ones and avoid making time to talk. However, this...
Mixed Emotions

Mixed Emotions

When my relatives were approaching the end of their life, I experienced mixed emotions. Having also witnessed this process in other’s lives, mixed emotions are a very common experience. Fearing the death of a loved one is very often one of the emotions we...
Caring for a Dying Loved One

Caring for a Dying Loved One

When we’re caring for a dying loved one with a life limiting illness, we need support ourselves. This ensures we can be there for them. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we won’t be in a fit state to care for them. Having support when we need it...
The Meaning and Purpose of Life

The Meaning and Purpose of Life

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. A quote by Pablo Picasso. I recently saw this quote on a Linked In article. It really struck a chord with me. Having purpose and meaning in our lives, no matter what circumstances we...
Living and Dying Well with Uncertainty

Living and Dying Well with Uncertainty

I recently contributed to the End of Life Partnership conference entitled ‘Living and Dying with Uncertainty’. It was an inspirational event with each speaker adding their own thought provoking contribution to this challenging topic. My particular...
Plan for the Worst, Live for the Best

Plan for the Worst, Live for the Best

When your loved one is experiencing deteriorating health, it’s useful to plan for the worst. However, some people may be very reluctant to discuss their preferences around place of care, care priorities or funeral wishes. It’s still important to at least...
A Sense of Identity

A Sense of Identity

When we find ourselves in the role of caring for a loved one with a life limiting illness, we may lose touch with our own identity. It can feel natural to put our loved one’s needs at the centre of everything we do. We might be supporting them to: Wash, dress...