Building a Family Care Plan

What you will be able to do

• describe what a family care plan is and how it fits alongside any HSE home support plan.
• involve the person you care for in decisions, using the guiding principles of Ireland's assisted decision-making law.
• map daily needs, including eating, drinking, medicines support, safety and social contact.
• share caring roles fairly and build a weekly rota with a named back-up for every task.
• ask the HSE about home support and respite, and know which carer payments, leave and tax credits to check.
• complete a key contacts sheet and an emergency information sheet, and know where to keep them.
• set review dates and spot the changes that mean the plan needs updating.
• recognise signs of carer strain and know where to get support.

1. 1Starting your family care plan

   What a family care plan is, why it helps everyone, and how to build it with the person you care for rather than around them.

   • What a family care plan is (and what it is not)
   • Putting the person at the centre

   Family care plan

2. 2Building the picture of needs

   Map a typical day and week, then look closely at eating and drinking, medicines support, safety, memory and social contact.

   • Mapping a typical day and week
   • Eating, drinking and medicines support
   • Safety at home, memory and social contact

   Family care plan

3. 3Sharing the caring: roles and the rota

   Divide caring jobs fairly across family and friends, including those far away, and build a weekly rota with a named back-up for every slot.

   • Dividing roles fairly
   • Building a rota that works
   • Running a family care meeting

   Roles and rota plannerFamily care plan

4. 4Getting official support in Ireland

   How to ask the HSE for home support and respite, which carer payments, leave and tax credits to check, and how to work with the GP and pharmacy as a carer.

   • Asking the HSE for home support and respite
   • Money, work and practical help to check
   • Working with the GP, pharmacy and hospital

   Family care planRoles and rota plannerKey contacts sheet

5. 5Key contacts, emergencies and paperwork

   Build your key contacts sheet and emergency information sheet, plan for the main carer suddenly being unavailable, and understand powers of attorney.

   • Your key contacts sheet
   • Emergency information and Plan B
   • Powers of attorney and important paperwork

   Key contacts sheetEmergency information sheet

6. 6Keeping the plan working, and looking after you

   Review and update the plan as needs change, and protect the health and wellbeing of the main carer.

   • Reviewing and updating the plan
   • Looking after yourself as a carer

   Family care planRoles and rota planner

• TemplateFamily care planBrings together, on one or two pages, what the person you care for needs, what matters to them and how the family will help.
• PlannerRoles and rota plannerShows, for each day of the week, who covers each part of the day, plus who handles the jobs that can be done from a distance and who steps in as back-up.
• TemplateKey contacts sheetKeeps every important name and number in one place, so anyone stepping in can find the right person quickly.
• TemplateEmergency information sheetGives paramedics, hospital staff or a stand-in carer the essential facts about the person in one page, plus a Plan B if the main carer is suddenly unavailable.