Andrew is 50 and lives on a farm with his elderly mother. His mother has had several strokes the last of which has rendered her incapable of looking after herself. She needs to be cared for on a full-time basis and Andrew is finding it very difficult to cope. He contacted Rural Support as he was feeling isolated and alone and finding this new and demanding situation emotionally and financially draining.

What did Rural Support do?

• One of our counsellors went to see Andrew at his home. We talked to him about his feelings of isolation and loneliness and how the subsequent stress could impact on his ability to care for his mother.
• We urged Andrew to contact his local health trust so that a social worker could visit their home and do an assessment on his mother in order to determine what external caring services were available. This enabled Andrew to get a break from his caring role and allowed him to continue with his work on the farm.
• We took details about Andrew’s circumstances and did a calculation on the A2B Benefit calculator to see if he was entitled to any financial aid which highlighted that there were various benefits that he could be receiving but hadn’t known about.
• We supported Andrew throughout the whole process and signposted the contact details of other organisations such as Age NI and the First Connect Service which helps to put people in touch with services available in their local area.