Media Coverage: Carers carrying burden alone: study

2015/04/19

Isolated and getting older, people caring for disabled relatives are often in need of care themselves, a survey revealed.

The study by the Christian Family Service Centre shed light on the often less-than-satisfactory psychological well-being of those who support some of society’s most needy.

The centre questioned 235 people who take care of someone disabled they share a home with, most of them family members. A third of those questioned were aged over 60, while 60 per cent indicated that received no financial or emotional support.

“These are all carers who have received or are currently receiving our services – which is one of the few social services targeting those who provide care to disabled people, instead of just the disabled people themselves,” said Kaiser Lo Kai-yeung, a senior service manager for the centre.

Most of the middle-aged or elderly carers had small social circles and often did not engage much with society, making it difficult for those trying to find and help them, Lo said.

Half of the respondents care for mentally disabled people. And some 65 per cent of respondents said they seldom or never talked about their problems with friends.

The survey also looked at six aspects of psychological health among carers. It found many respondents felt they were “unable to control their environment” – a major source of stress.

Lo said that as carers got older, they worried about what would happen to their disabled children or relatives when they were no longer able to take care of them. Government support was lacking, with long queues for many services, he said.

“Many of these carers have emotional problems themselves now,” Lo said. “We hope there can be more support groups built into regular social services in centres – specifically targeting care givers. Also, the government should have a subsidy for care givers to help them financially when they can’t work.”