Stroke carers are at breaking point

The charity has also found that 40 per cent of stroke carers who had been caring for more than three years report feeling exhausted and around one in three stressed or anxious. Despite this, more than a third of people caring for stroke survivors receive no emotional support, with a devastating impact on their health and well-being.

There are currently over 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK and this number is predicted to rise to 2.1 million in 2035. The charity is warning that stroke carers are coming under increasing pressure to manage their own daily needs while caring for their loved ones, and the situation is likely to get worse.

The Stroke Association’s Lived Experience report is the UK’s largest ever survey of people affected by stroke with over 11,000 responses and reveals stroke carers are struggling to cope: almost half of the carers who did not have any support said that they were not offered any help, or did not know where to start and stroke carers are feeling isolated: ver a quarter of carers said there were not enough support groups for them.

Juliet Bouverie, Chief Executive of the Stroke Association, said: “Lives change in an instant after a stroke. Overnight, a partner becomes an unpaid carer. We know that thousands of people all over the UK are dedicating their lives to caring for loved ones, whose speech, independence, emotional wellbeing or personality could be affected after a stroke. And as these new figures show, over time, taking on the role of carers often comes at the cost of their own health.

Sadly, far too many people are facing this devastating situation alone and unsupported. The number of stroke survivors is set to rise by almost one million by 2035. So this problem is only set to get worse.”

The Association wants everyone affected by stroke to have access to the support that they need, when they need it. There are currently over 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK, and over half of those surveyed said they had relied on the help of an unpaid carer at some point since their stroke.

The findings also reveal that stroke carers are facing financial hardship: over a quarter of carers said they did not receive enough support on Carer’s Allowance/benefits and caring for stroke survivors is not shared equally between women and men, with more women taking on the role of carer. Visit www.stroke.org.uk/livedexperience