Carer Support - Byron Shire Respite Services

Programs

byron carers support group

Are you new to the caring role?
If so, you may be interested in our Carers Coffee Club

If you and your loved-one have only recently visited us at Byron Shire Respite Service or are a new carer in our area, we would love to meet you. We facilitate peer-to-peer supports and our monthly meetings are an opportunity to chat to others new to caring or new to the Byron shire and meet others are in similar caring situations.

Bring your questions, bring your concerns, let other carers know what works for you, meet new friends and expect to get great support!

If you require support in your caring role, or would like to discuss any aspect of caring before our next meeting, please call Karen or Emma on 6685 1619 or email caremanager@byronrespite.com.au

celebrating carers counselling

Are you caring for someone over the age of 65?
Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed and need to talk to someone?
Celebrating Carers can help!

Byron Shire Respite Service and Sandra Kimball, a Nationally Recognised Carer Counsellor, have joined together to establish the Celebrating Carers program. Celebrating Carers will offer one-on-one positive mental health sessions for people caring for a loved one or friend who is over the age of 65.

Sessions are based on counselling principals and focused on strengthening your own mental health wellbeing so you can be at your best.

Sandra Kimball has a passion for listening to and appreciating people’s life stories which led her into counselling and adult education many years ago. She has a longstanding relationship with the Byron Respite Centre having been a carer for her partner who attended the centre from 2008 – 2014. Knowing first-hand what it’s like to be a carer, she has been a counsellor with the National Carer Counselling program since 2015. Celebrating Carers counselling sessions are subsidised by a generous donation and we request a small fee of $14 to cover administration costs.

For more information and to start the process, please email: caremanager@byronrespite.com.au

carers education

Our Care Office can assist with tips and strategies to support you in your caring role.

We can also provide you with links to in-person and online education and training sessions for carers of people living with dementia and printed and digital information to read in your own time.

Please contact Karen and Emma on (02) 6685 1619 for more information.

carers education

Our 4 page monthly newsletters can be read online, downloaded as a pdf, emailed or posted to you each month.
We have digital pdfs available from as early as 2012.

Please email Courtney on dementiafriendly@byronrespite.com.au to join our monthly email or mailing list.

byron shire dementia friends

Byron Shire Respite Service is proud to be working with Byron Shire Dementia Friends and Dementia Australia to enhance our Dementia-Friendly Community

If you are a community member and would like to join our local chapter of Byron Shire Dementia Friends, please email Karen and Skye at: dementiafriendly@byronrespite.com.au

Dementia-friendly communities are inclusive and support people with dementia and their carers to live a high quality of life with meaning, purpose and value that we all expect.

Dementia is the term used to describe the symptoms of a large group of more than 100 illnesses which cause a progressive decline in a person’s mental functioning. According to Dementia Australia, 447,000 Australians live with dementia and an estimated 299,842 Australians are involved in their care.

The Unspoken Impact of Dementia

View this 4 minute clip from Dementia Australia to learn
about Dementia

Younger Onset Dementia & the NDIS

View this 5 minute clip from Dementia Australia to learn more about younger onset dementia and the NDIS

Younger people and many from diverse communities may have real concerns about approaching services or the wider community due to real or perceived stigma. People with dementia deserve to enjoy the same services and human rights as all other Australians, with full inclusion in their community. Becoming dementia-friendly means YOU can help your community to support people living with dementia to live a high quality of life with meaning, purpose and value.

People that may not access the community or its support services include those:

Living with younger onset dementia
Identifying as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI)
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse peoples
People living with neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, HIV-associated dementia, Motor Neurone disease and Traumatic Brain Injury, to name a few.

As specialists in the field of dementia, Byron Shire Respite Service is well-placed to help educate businesses and individuals in our community to be Dementia-Friendly and make people’s lives a whole lot easier. It is our dream that people caring for someone with dementia at home and their loved-ones will partake in community life and access available services for much needed support.

What people in the Northern Rivers can do today:

Learn more about dementia and what causes the disease. Visit the Dementia Australia website for lots of informative and easy-to-read fact sheets.
Become a 'Dementia Friend'. Visit Dementia Australia to sign up and order your 'dementia friendly kit' by clicking on this link
Assist people if you see them experiencing difficulties when out in the community.
Assist people if you see them experiencing difficulties when out in the community.
Provide support for people living with the disabilities of dementia to continue with paid or volunteer work.
Champion businesses, community groups and individuals that are dementia-friendly
Contact Byron Shire Respite if your community group or business in the Northern Rivers would like to learn more, get involved and/or receive regular updates of what is happing in our area. Email Karen at: dementiafriendly@byronrespite.com.au
Read the Dementia Friendly Communities booklet from Dementia Australia. Click on the link to download the PDF.

Are you living with dementia?

If you are living with younger onset dementia or a part of a diverse community and would like to get involved in our Dementia-Friendly Communities project – We would love to hear from you! There are plenty of opportunities to get involved at your own pace, meet new friends and help raise awareness. Please contact Karen and Skye at: dementiafriendly@byronrespite.com.au