Family Carers Ireland, the national charity representing Ireland’s 500,000 family carers has launched a suite of free eLearning courses which aims to provide information and guidance to those caring for loved ones at home.
The courses, which can be accessed through www.familycarers.ie, cover five key aspects of caring:
Self-care
Coping with Grief
Nutrition and Hydration
Positive Communication
Continence Care
Each includes an introduction and overview of the topic and allows family carers to work through the information at a time and pace that suits them. This online initiative is particularly timely given that in-person courses are not possible due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The courses were developed with the support of the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Dormant Accounts Fund administered by Pobal.
Family Carers Ireland’s National Lead for Psychosocial Supports Anna de Siún welcomed the launch.
“We are delighted to be launching these eLearning programmes that will allow carers to access valuable information at a time and place that suits them. This is particularly needed at this time when carers cannot attend workshops or education programmes in person. Each programme is designed to give carers the opportunity to enhance their caring skills, and keep themselves well within their caring role. We hope they will complement the suite of resources available through our website, our Careline and our Carer Support Managers around the country,” Anna commented.
Family Carers Ireland is the national charity supporting and advocating for more than 500,000 family carers across the country who dedicate their lives to caring for loved ones such as children or adults with physical or intellectual disabilities, older people, the terminally ill or those suffering from chronic illnesses. It provides a range of services and supports for family carers through its nationwide resource centres , including free online counselling, PPE distribution, online training and its National Freephone Careline .
Family carers wishing to avail of these services or who need support with any aspect of their caring role, can contact the National Freephone Careline 1800 24 07 24 or see www.familycarers.ie for more.
