A bit about Weavers

What we learnt...

It’s just what you do

It was one of the most frustrating but rewarding experiences of

my lifeThere’s

no one to turn to

People will care for an older parent, friend, or relative at some point

Suffer from moderate to high levels of stress

Carers have the lowest wellbeing of any population sub-group

3in5

50%

Weavers are people who’ve cared

for a loved one. They’ve been there.

They get it.

Weavers help in different ways, they:

- Share their stories

- Exchange their know-how

- Walk beside others

Weavers is a new program that provides support to people caring for a loved one

What is Weavers?

You just

don’t know what’s out there and how to get it

I just want the people around me to be more

helpful

Navigate and

negotiate services

I feel like

I lost my best friend

The emotional challenges

People tell me you’ve got to look after yourself I don’t know how

I’d fit that in

Sustaining things for yourself

Connecting with family & friends

What Weavers work on

I was losing my husband and trying to find him.

The biggest loss was when I realised I could not bring

him back. Physically he was my husband, but mentally

he was gone.Three dimensions of loss that caregivers experience: loss of the person living with the illness/disease, loss of personal identity, and symbolic loss of the ideal.

Many express sadness as the disease progresses at “what has become” of their family member. They have lost the person they used to confide in, paid the bills, gave advice, cooked meals or looked after them - and the list grows as the disease progresses.

Dempsey and Baago (1998)

Ambiguous loss

Loss of identity

Loss of person

Loss of future

Dr. Pauline BossWith ambiguous loss, there is no closure; the challenge is to learn how to live with the ambiguity.

First meet with carer Offer to the Weaver Guiding session Working with

Check-ins Next steps Reflection

• Share Weavers• Pick a Weaver• Agree on expectations

• Brief on match• Share map for change

• All 3 people get on the same page

• Map out what they’ll work on

• Meet at local cafe• Talk on the phone• Visit at home

• Check-ins with Weaver and carer after first meet

• Decide what will happen moving forward

• A chance to look back and reflect on what has happened

How we work with people

week 10

week 12

week 1 ongoing

ongoing

Next steps

WeaversYou can always call for a chat on

Or find out more about at:www.weavers.tacsi.org.au

Weavers by The Australian Centre for Social Innovation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.