Queen’s University, Belfast (QUB) and the All-Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) have developed a new resource to help carers providing support to a person who needs palliative care.
Caring for Carers is dedicated to carers providing core information for family members or friends who are providing support to a person who needs palliative care. The website was created by a team led by Professor Peter Hudson from QUB in collaboration with AIIHPC and a working group made up of family carers and former carers, carer organisations, health and social care professionals, and charities.
The site, hosted on www.thepalliativehub.com contains videos, downloads, links and information created by a group of experts, including carers, from across the island of Ireland.
Professor Peter Hudson explained, ‘One of the most important things people confronting the end of their lives want is to be assured that their family will be well supported. Family caregivers need to know how to access support services and where to obtain key information to assist them to manage the role of supporting their relative or friend. This new resource meets these needs by offering an evidenced based, reliable and easily accessible resource for family caregivers of people with life-limiting conditions.’
Speaking at the launch of the website, Karen Charnley, AIIHPC Head of Institute, said, ‘One of the core goals of AIIHPC is to foster strong cross-sector partnership and collaboration and Caring for Carers provides another example of the strength of this approach. It also adds another core component to The Palliative Hub and brings it closer to being the comprehensive resource for people with palliative care needs.’
Over the coming months the website will continue to be developed with additional information and stories from people who have cared for or are caring for someone with palliative care needs.
