How can I help a young carer?

In many areas, there is a specialist local service that can offer activities, breaks, listening, help with school problems and signposting for parents. Find out if you have a local Young Carers Project. Ensure that your young carers know about this service and refer when you have the young carers’ or parents’ permission.

Help young carers get 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 parents 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.