Carers Network in Enable Magazine
Carers Network’s Head of Services Sonia Benitez talks about the challenges faced by unpaid carers over the pandemic.
The July-August edition of Enable Magazine features an interview with Carers Network’s Head of Services Sonia Benitez about the challenges faced by unpaid carers over the pandemic.
Sonia highlights how initial calls and concerns raised by carers tended to be about basic needs such as getting food. As the pandemic progressed we receive more enquiries about mental health and help for loved ones that where living with dementia or learning disabilities for example and finding the lockdown particularly challenging. There was also a lot of concern about money and benefits.
Sonia adds: “We found that digital exclusion was a big challenge for carers, particularly in the beginning and mid-phase of the pandemic when pretty much all information that organisations were disseminating was online.”
Sonia highlights that without more recognition for the role played by unpaid carers they will remain without access to many of the vital tools and resources they need in their caring role.
