State of Caring Carers UK State of Caring 2017 Report | Page 6

STATE OF CARING REPORT 2017
Impact on carers’ health and wellbeing
Caring can have a significant impact on health, with the
pressures of providing care taking a toll on both carers’
physical and mental wellbeing. Those providing round the
clock care are more than twice as likely to be in bad health
as non-carers. i
The most recent GP patient survey found that 3 in 5 carers
have a long term health condition, this compares with
half of non-carers. This pattern is even more pronounced
for younger adults providing care – 40% of carers aged
18-24 have a long term health condition compared with
29% of non-carers in the same age group 2 . Carers’ own
experiences suggest that long term back and mobility
problems are caused by long term physical stress from
moving and handling without the right equipment or
training. This impact is often exacerbated by carers being
unable to find time for medical check-ups or treatment or
being forced to put off treatment because of their caring
responsibilities. Without proper support, carers are often
pushed to breaking point and have to give up work, stop
caring, or even go into hospital themselves.
2016 GP Patient Survey
2
06
It’s very difficult to arrange health
appointments to coincide with very
short free windows of time
I have neglected my own health
problems, putting off sorting them out,
for fear that I would be hospitalised
and therefore not able to care