Member Stories

Ian Connelly is a 52 yr old Aboriginal man who was live-in-carer for his nephew Andrew for a few years. Andrew is in his 40’s and is the youngest in his family.

Andrew was born on Palm Island and grew up there in his younger years with his family, before moving to Cairns. Andrew also has a moderate intellectual disability.

For Ian, caring for Andrew was an informal role as Ian saw himself as just taking care of family. During their time together Ian and Andrew often accessed Aboriginal Community Controlled supports such the Wuchopperen Health Service P300 program, and the men’s group as well as the regular health check-ups in the general clinic. Ian says that involvement in the social activities made a big difference for both him and Andrew.

Ian says that being a carer was not easy. He described times when things became frustrating, particularly when there were problems with mood swings and getting clear communication between them. Ian is very supportive of the Network and believes that it will be nice for carers to hear about others stories who may be in similar situations.