Family Members
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David M
Born in 1941.
Overview:
David met Patsy while working as a tea-planter in India and came to England after their marriage in 1966, to escape the prejudice they`d encountered because Patsy was Anglo Indian. He worked as a prison officer, then prison governor until retirement at 60. Patsy developed diabetes in 1985 and they managed well until she had a stroke in 1999 and needed full-time care. He doesn`t want respite care, because he wouldn`t enjoy holidays without her, but he would like the Carer`s Allowance that was stopped when he got his pension, because `people who care for people…save the country a fortune`.

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Family Members 
Here you can listen to 25 family members of people with diabetes, including parents, children, siblings and spouses. They range from those who have had an official full-time role, with a Carer�s Allowance, to those who feel that their involvement with diabetes has been marginal.

The idea of interviewing family members came from people with diabetes recorded for this website who said they �could not have survived� without the help of a relative. In some cases, they were referring to rescue from unconsciousness and in others to moral support with diet or exercise. In all these cases, they felt that the role of the family should form an important part of the history of diabetes care.

We have used the term �family member� rather than �carer�, partly because a few of the interviewees have not been much involved in practical care and partly because some of those who have been greatly involved did not wish to be regarded as the �carer� of someone they loved.

In addition to 22 interviews that are mainly about the experience of being a family member, we have included in this section 1 interview with a healthcare professional and 2 with people with diabetes who have also been involved in looking after members of their family.
 
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