The hardest thing we have ever done - Palliative Care Australia

Seeking community recognition: suggestions to publicise the impact
of caring
Carer for wife with MND
How do we convey to those outside the world of carers the physical, mental, financial,
emotional and moral mountains that carers have to climb? Coming from the media, I should
be able to roll out the advice but I have to admit I don’t have the answer to that question. You
might feel that carers don’t get the publicity they deserve and you would be right. But every
interest group feels it doesn’t get the publicity it should and in many cases they are right, too.
Getting publicity in the media is a highly competitive endeavour.
We have to deal with the media the way it is and not the way we might want it to be. The
media world is, by and large, fairly tough. Except in times of great tragedy – as with the Bali
bombing – reporters and editors don’t sit around thinking of people who do good works. Apart
from the ABC, the media runs as a business and there is only so much reader or viewer appetite
for stories about good works, particularly when the names and details might change but the
underlying message is the same.
I think that success in using the media to get your messages across is not a matter of column
inches or minutes of TV but is more strategic in nature. Can you get access to the media when
you need to? The more contacts you can develop in the media – reporters, columnists, opinion
page editors, news editors, talkback radio, current affairs and chat show hosts, and their
producers – the better chance you have of putting your point of view and of telling your
stories as relevant issues arise.
There is no formula. It is a matter of working hard and working smart and being able to bounce
back when your strike rate is less than 100 per cent.
Summary of Carers’ Suggestions to ease the
Burden of Caring
Based on the experience of carers, their needs, and therefore suggestions to address these
needs, can be grouped under the following headings: information and education, support
services and respite, financial support, support from workplaces, issues for rural people and
community recognition.
Information and Education
Carers suggested the following is required for carers:
• information, in the form of a publication, preparing them for their role in a practical way,
covering a list of equipment to purchase such as stable tables, seats for bathrooms,
non-spill cups and easy-to-eat meals
• more information from health professionals on the condition, the treatment options,
medication etc for the person for whom they care
• better communication between all health care professionals involved in service provision.
50 THE HARDEST THING WE HAVE EVER DONE: The Social Impact of Caring for Terminally Ill People in Australia, 2004