This National Carer’s Week (Sunday 15 to Saturday 21 October), we welcome Paul Koury and Briana Blackett – two passionate advocates for unpaid carers with first-hand but vastly different experience.
As we found out in part one, Paul Koury lives with multiple sclerosis (MS) and after being a carer for his mother and navigating the aged care system, founded the Australian Carers Guide – a publication to help others navigate the carer journey.
Paul balances the challenges of life with MS with the busy demands of publishing and is devoted to sharing his knowledge and experience of caring and that of others, with the Australian community. For Paul, knowledge is power and carers need helpful, practical information and to be able to care for themselves. In part two, Paul shares more about living with MS as a mostly invisible disease and how that impacts him.
Briana Blackett is a carer to her two sons who live with disability and complex needs. Briana has much to share about the challenges and complexities of being a carer as a solo parent, pros and cons, her tips and coping-strategies and the many rewards to be gained.
Briana openly shares the many lessons she has learnt about caring, what does and doesn’t work, the importance of self-care, asking for help, support networks and how to make your situation work for you. In part two, Briana also delves into inclusivity, adaptability and home modifications for disability, and why it is so important for carers to ask others for help.
On this special two-part episode of the Raw Nerve, host Phil O’Neil chats with Paul and Briana and finds out about the carer role and the importance of caring for the carers.
Useful Links:
