What to do when your caring role changes or ends

If your caring role changes or ends, you may experience many different emotions. There may also be some practical and financial changes that you need to consider. 

If the person you care for needs more help

Getting more help at home

If the condition of the person you’ve been caring for deteriorates and you’re no longer able to provide all the care that they need, then it’s time to think about arranging a different system of care.

The person you look after may require more support than you have the time or energy to give. Ask their local social services department to assess, or reassess, their care needs.

Their changing health needs may entitle them to more services and support at home than before. Get a carer’s assessment for yourself too, as you may be entitled to extra support.

Find out more about carer’s assessments

Thinking about moving

If the person you care for needs more intensive care, they may need to consider the possibility of moving into sheltered housing or a care home.

This is a big decision and you should both take the time to look at all the options available to you. Think about other types of housing that may be suitable, such as extra-care sheltered housing.

Find out more about housing options

If the person you cared for has moved into a care home

Looking after yourself

This may have been a difficult decision, and perhaps you feel you’ve let down the person you were looking after. Remember, you’re only human and there are limits to the care you can provide at home.

If you’re concerned about helping them to settle in, read our advice on how to make the transition easier.

Find out more about how to help someone settle into a care home

Looking after your money

If you find you’re still spending a lot of time caring for the person, you may still be entitled to a carer’s assessment. You also still have the right to request flexible working.

Once the person you care for stops getting disability benefits (usually four weeks after they move into the care home), you’ll no longer be entitled to Carer’s Allowance.

If you received a carer premium or addition with means-tested benefits, this will continue for an extra eight weeks after your Carer’s Allowance stops.

This could be a good time to get a benefits check. 

If the person you cared for has died

As well as the loss of the person you cared for, you may also face the loss of the relationships you built up with the professionals involved in their care.

Being a carer can be demanding and you may have lost touch with people. Getting back in contact with family and friends, or meeting new people, may be the last thing you feel like doing while coping with a bereavement. As a result, you may feel very alone or isolated.

It may help to talk to people who knew the person you cared for, to share memories and support each other.

Or you might prefer to contact an organisation that offers support for people who have suffered a bereavement. Specialist organisations such as Cruse Bereavement Care offer counselling, advice and practical help, and put you in touch with local bereavement groups.

You can continue to get Carer’s Allowance for up to eight weeks after the death.

Find out about the support available to you from Cruse Bereavement Care