“Something that happens at home and stays at home”: An exploration of the lived experience of young carers in Western Australia

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd There are approximately 350,000 young carers in Australia, yet their experience is not well understood. Young carers face adversities and disenfranchisement by being a young person in a caring role, and the role can affect other areas of their lives. We explored th...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: McDougall, E., O'Connor, Moira, Howell, Joel
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/68856
_version_ 1848761907015581696
author McDougall, E.
O'Connor, Moira
Howell, Joel
author_facet McDougall, E.
O'Connor, Moira
Howell, Joel
author_sort McDougall, E.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd There are approximately 350,000 young carers in Australia, yet their experience is not well understood. Young carers face adversities and disenfranchisement by being a young person in a caring role, and the role can affect other areas of their lives. We explored the lived experiences of young carers, aged 14–25 years (N = 13), from Western Australia through in-depth semi-structured interviews. A phenomenological approach was adopted. A thematic analysis of the transcribed interview data revealed four key themes. “Lessons from the experience” articulates the perceived benefits of the role and the themes: “navigating competing demands,” “desire for normalcy” and “lost in the system” capture the struggles and complexities associated with being a young carer. Although there are challenges to being a young carer, it is something that young carers report can be beneficial and something that is done for those they love.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:39:07Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-68856
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:39:07Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-688562018-06-29T12:35:26Z “Something that happens at home and stays at home”: An exploration of the lived experience of young carers in Western Australia McDougall, E. O'Connor, Moira Howell, Joel © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd There are approximately 350,000 young carers in Australia, yet their experience is not well understood. Young carers face adversities and disenfranchisement by being a young person in a caring role, and the role can affect other areas of their lives. We explored the lived experiences of young carers, aged 14–25 years (N = 13), from Western Australia through in-depth semi-structured interviews. A phenomenological approach was adopted. A thematic analysis of the transcribed interview data revealed four key themes. “Lessons from the experience” articulates the perceived benefits of the role and the themes: “navigating competing demands,” “desire for normalcy” and “lost in the system” capture the struggles and complexities associated with being a young carer. Although there are challenges to being a young carer, it is something that young carers report can be beneficial and something that is done for those they love. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/68856 10.1111/hsc.12547 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. restricted
spellingShingle McDougall, E.
O'Connor, Moira
Howell, Joel
“Something that happens at home and stays at home”: An exploration of the lived experience of young carers in Western Australia
title “Something that happens at home and stays at home”: An exploration of the lived experience of young carers in Western Australia
title_full “Something that happens at home and stays at home”: An exploration of the lived experience of young carers in Western Australia
title_fullStr “Something that happens at home and stays at home”: An exploration of the lived experience of young carers in Western Australia
title_full_unstemmed “Something that happens at home and stays at home”: An exploration of the lived experience of young carers in Western Australia
title_short “Something that happens at home and stays at home”: An exploration of the lived experience of young carers in Western Australia
title_sort “something that happens at home and stays at home”: an exploration of the lived experience of young carers in western australia
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/68856