Give young carers the information they need

One of the biggest stresses that young carers identify is that although they are often the person who spends most time looking after someone in their family, they are often the person who knows least about their health problem. Try to encourage your client to allow you to explain their health condition to their children. If this is not possible, there is no data protection barrier to giving a child or young person general information about the relevant health condition. Some of the questions that trouble many young carers include:

• Can I catch it/ will it happen to me too?
• What caused it? Why us? Is it my fault?
• Can I do anything to make the person better?
• Will the person I look after get worse or die?
• What should I do in an emergency?

Don’t assume that even apparently mature, confident young carers are as assured on the inside as they appear on the outside.