Helping someone to be independent when living with a physical disability
As a carer of someone with a physical disability, your role in their support may extend beyond providing physical assistance, encouraging them to regain or maintain their independence and empowering them to create the life that feels most fulfilling to them. This can be a balance at times, supporting the person you are caring for to become more independent whilst continuing to ensure their needs are met. Here we offer some points you might consider as you promote and support the maintenance of independence of someone with a physical disability.
Understanding the difference between promoting and maintaining independence
Both maintaining and promoting independence are all about enhancing someone’s ability to thrive and live a self-directed life. Promoting independence includes giving encouragement to the person you care for to develop new skills, perhaps through education or training, and utilise their existing skills and abilities in new ways, expanding their current capability.
For carers, maintaining independence focus on supporting someone to develop existing skills and abilities and adapting the environment or equipment to maintain these skills and abilities. For example, making adaptations to the layout of their living space and bringing in specialist equipment and tailored support allows someone with a physical disability to address their own needs wherever they are able.
Considering the abilities and challenges of the person with the physical disability
Independence looks different for every individual. Having conversations with the person you are caring for enables you to tailor your support to their capabilities and desires. A Care Needs Assessment and Occupational Therapy (OT) Assessment with the local authority can also highlight the areas in which the person you are caring for requires little, no or full assistance.
When supporting someone with a physical disability to work towards greater independence, carers can often find it helpful to start by identifying the tasks the person they care for is able to do independently, those they can do with support and those they are unable to do safely. This allows the carers to understand how to offer the most relevant support, intervening only when necessary.
There may be times where a carer’s most effective intervention is encouragement. By offering words of support, individuals with a physical disability can overcome many of the mental barriers, such as fear of failure or defeat, enabling them to complete more tasks than they originally believed. Encouragement as a first approach can also help carers to avoid unintentionally disempowering the person they care for because it feels simply ‘easier’ and quicker to do things for them.
Advocacy, communication and decision-making
Independence goes hand-in-hand with the ability to make decisions that affect our life, and involving the person you care for in any decision-making processes related to their care, living arrangements and future goals means they will feel more empowered, with a much greater sense of control and self-determination.
As a carer, you have the opportunity to offer encouragement and support whilst prioritising their autonomy in choices that impact them directly. There may also be times when the person you care for requires you or another independent advocate to put forward their needs, wishes and beliefs on their behalf, and our article on Self-advocacy for carers might be useful here.
Creating a safe, accessible environment
Having an accessible home, with wide pathways and spaces clear of clutter, can minimise the risk of falls and injuries, as well as giving the person you care for the confidence to move around and complete tasks independently.
One of the key aspects of promoting independence and a sense of autonomy is fostering essential self-care skills. Having a conversation with the person you care for around practical tasks they would like to do for themselves can identify areas where home adaptations or specialised equipment could make a significant difference for them. From there you can support them to develop a routine for personal hygiene, dressing, and grooming.
Your OT may be able to offer advice or recommend certain equipment to make these personal care tasks more manageable, like using adaptive clothing or introducing assistive devices like reachers, and dressing aids like button hooks, zip pullers and leg-lifters. Our article on Home adaptations and specialist equipment to support someone with a physical disability goes into more detail in this area.
Building a support network for you and the person you care for
A strong support network will be beneficial to both you and the person you care for, and may include your friends and family, your professional teams, and peers who have a similar situation in common. Connecting with local groups and organisations can provide valuable resources, advice, and social opportunities within a supportive community for both you and the person you care for.
Living with a physical disability can be emotionally challenging, and mental health plays a crucial role in overall wellbeing and the ability to live as independently as possible. Creating a supportive environment where open communication is encouraged and checking in with them regularly will mean the person you care for has the opportunity to share their feelings, concerns, and aspirations.
Caring for someone with a physical disability can have a huge impact on your physical, mental and emotional health too as their carer, and prioritising your own wellbeing will be important. Asking friends and family to help, making time for your own creative interests, and ensuring you take regular breaks will all sustain you in enjoying your own life, and being able to fulfil your role as a carer in the long term.
If ever stress levels build up to the extent that you are concerned - either for yourself, or on behalf of the person you care for - there is support available, and your GP can offer advice on services like counselling and therapy that can be helpful.
Looking forward
Ongoing conversations with the person you care for about how they feel things are going in relation to living as independently as possible are important; maintaining positive relationships with your medical and care teams will also help to ensure that the support they receive is always relevant to their needs.
Your situation will evolve and can change over time, so taking time to regularly review every aspect and seeking support whenever you need it will be key to a life that feels sustainable and fulfilling to you both.
Practical support for you as the carer
Your caring role will involve setting personal goals and boundaries, with the focus on creating a sustainable caring role for yourself whilst ensuring the needs of the person you are caring for are met.
Practically speaking, it may be that the person you are caring for cannot complete a whole task, but they may be able to do part of it; it is important for you both to see the value in this - as the carer you will be completing tasks alone, and the person you are caring for will feel more empowered and independent.