Support services for carers

Carers can feel isolated, so it's important to have contact with other people and make time for yourself. You might be able to arrange short or long term alternative care for the person you care for. Find out about services and support groups available in your area.

Health and Social Care Trusts

Your Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust may have a list of carers' groups in your area.

Contact the carer co-ordinator in your Trust to find out what's available.

HSC Trust carers coordinators

Day-to-day support services

Day-to-day support services, available from your Trust, could allow you to go to work or take a break during the day.

These services can also help you when the person you care for needs specialist care or a significant amount of looking after.

Often the Trust may work with charities or other organisations to:

provide support at day centres
arrange home care help
find a more suitable home for the person you care for
provide residential care

Your Trust may have a list of local carers' groups.

Contact the carer coordinator in your Trust to find out what's available.

HSC Trust carers coordinators

Day care centres

Day care centres offer different care services for people with disabilities.

If the person you care for goes to a day centre, this can be a break for you and them.

Your Trust must arrange this if the needs assessment of the person you care for, or your carer's assessment, states that day centre visits are needed.

Help at home

Home care workers can do different roles that help you care for someone.

Home help assistants can:

clean
shop
prepare meals

Domiciliary care workers provide personal care, such as help going to the toilet or getting washed and dressed.

You might be able to employ people to help with care at home on your own.

You should ask your Trust for advice.

Direct payments for care

Residential care and nursing homes

Residential care and nursing homes are for people who cannot cope at home and need support with their care.

To let you have a break, the person you care for could get a short-term stay in a home.

Trusts, private companies and voluntary organisations run residential care and nursing homes.

Residential care and nursing homes

Other support services for carers

There are other services and facilities that can help you care for the person and promote their independence.

These include schemes to help with transport, including:

There are different organisations and charities that offer services to carers.

Some are listed below:

To find information about other support organisations, go to:

A to Z Guide for carers

Meeting other carers

Some carers' organisations have local groups in Northern Ireland, including support groups for specific health, illness or medical conditions.

Check if there's a group in your area.

You can find contact details for many organisations in the A-Z Guide for Carers.

Facilities and services offered can vary from group to group.

Your local centre can tell you what is available in your area, such as:

regular meetings where members can get together, make new friends and share interests (these may be at a local centre or at members’ homes)
relaxing treats for carers, such as complementary therapies - for example, reflexology or massage (these may be subsidised)
training sessions with a back care nurse to help you look after the person you care for without injuring your back
professional counselling
social activities

Care Registers

If you or someone in your home is dependent on a water supply or electrical equipment for daily care then you can sign up to NI Water and NI Electricity (NIE) Networks care registers.

The registers identify people who need extra help or support during a supply interruption.

Find out more at:

Care registers

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