The Triangle of Care for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers offers professionals guidance on how they can support carers aged up to 25, a group which is often overlooked within mental health services.
The Triangle of Care programme was set up to help mental health providers share best practice on how they can include and support carers involved with mental health services and work towards a carer-inclusive culture. There are seven regional Triangle of Care groups across England, which exist to build partnerships between the statutory and third sector. The programme is also being rolled out across Scotland.
The Triangle of Care for Young Carers and Young Adult Carers sits alongside the main guide which was developed in 2010.
There are an estimated 700,000 young carers (BBC) and according to the 2011 Census there are 375,000 young adult carers in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate stats but we’d have to check with their policy people.
It is hoped that this resource will help more mental health providers ensure that carers of all ages of someone with a mental health problem are identified as early as possible and are able to access the support they need to feel included and supported.
Ruth Hannan, Carers Trust Policy and Development Manager and Triangle of Care lead for England comments:
“The work we have already undertaken on Triangle of Care shows that carers under the age of 25 are under recognised and under identified with mental health services and as a result are often under supported.
“So many young and young adult carers are not given information in a way that they can understand, are not given a chance to ask questions and are not told that they can get help to have the same chances as their peers who aren’t carers; all of these things mean that unnecessary worry and stress can be reduced”.
Speaking at the launch, young adult carer Daniel J Stanley said:
“The value of having young carers recognised within the mental health service plays a really important part in my life. When I started to meet people - from the young carers service - who understood what I was going through, I didn't feel like I was alone anymore.
“I just felt a sense of security knowing that someone what me and my family had to deal with. They also brought me up from such a low point in life to the point where they helped me with things like uni and finding employment.
“The most important thing of all, is that it gave me a new insight on life, which made me more confident and able to look at the situation with an entirely new perspective, which made caring for my mum a lot easier. It was one of very few reasons that I managed to get my life back on track.”