Supporting families and carers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Supporting families and carers - Essay Example Lizzie’s level of commitment is however more compared to that of her siblings as most of the time she is taking care of her sick mum. As a result of this, she gradually becomes socially isolated. This paper is a discussion of social isolation in relation to supporting families and carers. This is the state in which an individual experiences a need for increased level of association with others, but is not able to make contact with them (Larsen and Lubkin, 2009). Because human beings are social in nature, they have a need for social interaction. Interacting with others and spending time with them offers a person a sense of belonging, thereby making life meaningful to them. The need for social support is an aspect that is firmly connected to social isolation. According to Larsen and Lubkin (2009, p. 88), social support is the â€Å"social context or environment that facilitates the survival of human beings by offering social, emotional, and material support needed and received by an individual†. As mentioned earlier, life becomes meaningful through interaction and spending time with others, being able to enjoy common activities such as sports and going out with peers, having a clear mind as well as feeling free and being free among other things. In the case of Lizzie and her siblings, enjoying such things has been made impossible by their mother’s illness. Being a young carer, Lizzie seems particularly affected as she is even unable to concentrate in class as portrayed in the short film. When she gets back home from school and finds her mother’s cup of tea exactly where they left it with her siblings, she can’t help but worry and rush upstairs fearing the worst. Lizzie and her siblings live very different lives compared to their peers. While their peers are able to get early to school and begin classes in time, Lizzie and her two siblings are always late. This doesn’t happen on a few occasions, rather it happens every