Carers are Important Too Group
Saturday 5th April
- The Lantern
- Care and support
At Farleigh Hospice, we recognise how important the carers of our patients are and how important it is that they receive support throughout their loved one's illness. In the latest issue of the Lantern Magazine we learn about a carers' support group run by Farleigh.
A ‘carer’ is anyone who looks after a family member, partner or friend in need of help due to their life-limiting condition. Patients are usually unable to cope without their carer’s help with daily tasks and appointments or their emotional support.
Carers often focus entirely on their loved ones’ needs whilst overlooking their own. A feeling of being overwhelmed can build slowly over time, resulting in carer burnout. Often, if a carer feels unsupported or overwhelmed, a patient can in turn be more likely to need additional support.
Our Family Support Team, consists of five family support practitioners and a counsellor, who provide emotional support and practical advice to carers. One form of support that the team have developed for carers is a psychoeducational group called ‘Carers are Important Too’ (CAIT).
The team developed the group together to recognise and acknowledge the support needed by our patients’ carers. They wanted to make a difference and help carers to better support themselves in their daily lives.
What is a psychoeducational group?
Psychoeducational groups share information and healthy coping mechanisms which can be used by their members in their daily lives. Working in a group provides huge benefits as participants meet and make connections with other people in a similar situation and share their own experiences. The group also provides a safe space to develop self-awareness, think about growth and change and look at potential triggers linked to mental health conditions.
Our Carers are Important Too group
The CAIT group helps its participants to build a ‘toolbox’ of useful information and coping techniques that empower them, whilst reinforcing the care they provide to the patient.
Each group meets for six weekly sessions, each lasting 2½ hours. There are five or six carers in each group with two facilitators from the Family Support Team.
CAIT provides a non-judgmental, supportive space for our carers to come together and look at helpful topics such as self-care, stress and fatigue, rediscovery of self and what the future may look like.
The team invite guest speakers to share their knowledge, experience and guidance. They include previous CAIT carers, counsellors, our therapy team and a representative from Carers First, an external carer organisation.
Mid-way through the group, the carers are invited to bring in a photo and a song and share a memory associated with them - something they feel reflects who they are as an individual, rather than them in their role as a carer. These stories are shared at the end of the group as a treasure to re-enforce their connections with one another.
There are two CAIT groups scheduled for 2025 in June-July and October-November.
"The first day I arrived for the CAIT group, I was very unsure about it. Sat in the waiting area, lots of thoughts running through my head (looking at
the exit sign) thinking should I stay or should I go?Two others within the waiting area leaned across and asked me if I was here for the group – in that moment I knew I was where I needed to be!
Since attending, it made me feel not so alone, relaxed that I can talk about things and not be judged. They are a lovely group who are friendly, warm, supportive and who understand (REALLY understand).
I have been able to talk about some things that I kept bottled up. Thank you everyone.”
Feedback from a CAIT participant.
Our Family Support Team has seen the benefits that the CAIT group provides to our carers when they need it the most. It gives them practical resources, goals and a time solely for themselves.
It has been amazing to see the peer support and connections that form among the participants over those six weeks, enabling them to feel truly safe together.
This story is taken from the 2025 Spring Lantern #113 magazine.
(Article first published 5 April 2025)
