Smiles all round for family carers

SMILES ALL ROUND FOR FAMILY CARERS ON LUMINO DAY

400 patients, 150,000-plus in free dental treatment at 30 Lumino The Dentists practices around NZ

9 May 2017, New Zealand: More than 150 dentists, hygienists and support staff from 30 Lumino the Dentists dental practices across New Zealand gave up their time on Saturday 7 May 2017, to provide over $150,000 of free dental treatment to 400-plus family carers as part of the annual Lumino Day event.

More than 222,000 people in New Zealand are reported to be looking after a family member who is sick or has a disability. For many, this has meant a major loss of income and up to 30 hours of additional unpaid care work every week. As you can imagine, this doesn’t leave much time to focus on your own well being.

This year, Carers NZ, the national body that provides information, advice, learning and support to family carers around the country, is celebrating the Year of Wellbeing, a reminder to family carers that to support others well, they need to care well for themselves.

“Family carers are people who give a lot of their time and themselves to assist a friend or family member who has extra needs due to illness, old age or disabilities,” says Carl Sunderland, General Manager of Carers NZ.

“Many carers have had to stop paid work due to the time required to look after the person they are caring for. Self-care, such as taking time out to see a dentist and look after themselves, is a luxury for many family carers. Lumino Day was a fantastic opportunity and extra incentive for our carers to do just that and it was great to see so many of our people taking up the opportunity.”

Family carer Susan Cho (pictured over page) has a son with Spinal Atrophy type 3. She says: “There are a lot of parents out there that have extra demands on them due to the health of their children. That this group has been singled out as recipients of this day is amazing. I appreciated being invited to be a part of Lumino Day. There are definitely sad and difficult times being a family carer, and gestures like this just help you keep going. It was really special”.

Lumino Day is one of the largest free dental events in New Zealand with thousands of dollars of free dental treatment given away each year.

Lumino’s Head of Marketing, Kerry Dunphy, says: ““We know that good oral health has a huge impact on our overall wellbeing but visiting the dentist is low on the priority list for New Zealanders, particularly for those people with major pressures on their time, such as family carers. We couldn’t think of a better organisation to partner with, or people to open our doors to.

“This is our fourth annual Lumino Day and our first supporting Carers NZ. It’s our way of giving back to our communities and saying thank you to family carers for the selfless work they do. The day is simply about providing carers with an opportunity to focus on themselves and their own self care.”

ENDS

What is Lumino Day?

Lumino Day is Lumino The Dentists’ day for doing good and giving back to local communities. It’s a day set aside to provide an opportunity for a deserving group of people in the community to visit their local Lumino dentist and have their basic dental treatment done for free. Over $400,000 worth of free dental care has been provided to more than 1,500 deserving people over the previous three Lumino Days.

Who are Carers NZ?

Carers NZ is the national body that provides information, advice, learning and support to more than 50,000 carers in New Zealand. Carers NZ was established in the early 1990’s by and for family carers and is a not for profit which fundraises to be able to create and share its resources. Carers NZ doesn’t charge a membership fee.

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