The support system of family and friends 
The support system that other family and friends offer can be a lifeline. The emotional support you have been providing throughout the illness now includes many practical aspects of caring.

This may give you on occasions an acute sense of grief and loss as, subtly, over time, your role shifts from being a spouse or adult child to that of caregiver. The active life you have shared with this person may be drawing to a close.

Practical help and emotional support from family and friends may help as you adapt to this changed world. It can also provide you with private time to reflect or acknowledge your own feelings.

The CareSearch pages managing daily life and feelings and emotions may help.

This page was created on 26 March 2007 and is due for review in March 2009