Are you a carer?

A carer is someone who provides unpaid help and support to a family member, partner, friend or neighbour who can’t manage on their own. Carers can be under 18 years (a young Carer) or over 18 years (an adult Carer). If you're aged between 16 to 25 years, you're considered to be a young adult carer.

Carers may include people who get Carer's Allowance.

As a carer you may be supporting someone who has:

• a physical or learning disability
• a long term or life limiting illness
• a mental health condition
• alcohol or drug related problems

Carers often provide:

• emotional support          
• personal care
• practical support like giving medication or helping someone eat
• help around the house
• interpreting skills for someone who has difficulty with communication

What is a Carers Conversation?

A Carers Conversation is an opportunity to talk about you and identify what you need to support your caring role.  During your conversation (which is also known as a Carers Assessment) you’ll be able to paint a picture of how caring affects different areas of your life.

You can ask for a Carers Conversation if you:

• are currently caring for someone
• intend to care for someone

You can have a Carers Conversation whether the person you care for gets help from the Council, agrees/doesn’t agree to have their own Care and Support Assessment. You’ll need to ask for your Carers Conversation from the Council of the person you support. If the person you care for is a Milton Keynes resident, you’ll be eligible for a Carers Conversation through Milton Keynes City Council.

Carers Conversation: getting the help you need

It’s important that carers get the support they need to tackle anything that arises around their caring role. For some carers, particularly children and young adults, the responsibility of being a Carer can impact on how well they live their own life. 

As a carer you may be able to get help from the Council, as well as help from voluntary organisations and health services.  The first step to finding out if you’re eligible for help from the Council is to have a Carers Conversation.

How to arrange a Carers Conversation

You can arrange a Carers Conversation by contacting the ACCESS Team or completing our online form.

Under the Care Act 2014 you may be eligible for support as a Carer. Please see the Eligibility Section.

If you’re not eligible for support from the Council, we’ll provide information about other services that can help.

Financial and practical support for carers

Please find out more about our Carers' offer on our Support for Adult Carers page.