Activities with the person you care for

Taking part in physical activity with the person or people you care for can be a good way to support everyone’s health, build your relationship and have fun!

It can be especially good to find activities you enjoy doing together if you find it difficult to get time away from your caring role.

Equipment needed 

The equipment you need will depend on the type of activity you are taking part in.

Getting started

When starting out, you should think about what activities you and the person you care for enjoy doing. This could be activities you did in the past, activities you like to watch, or something you’ve always thought you’d like to try. Think about whether you would like an activity where you can chat while you do it, or if you are looking for a more intense workout. Take a look at the Activity Ideas section of the Hub for more ideas

Many activities can be adapted for people with disabilities or long-term conditions to be able to take part and there are lots of organisations out there who can support with becoming more active:

• If the person you care for has a long-term condition or disability, We Are Undefeatable has suggestions for how activities can be adapted to suit them and prevent them aggravating their condition.
• Parasport has developed a series of at home workouts, including this one on stretching and mobility.
• Versus Arthritis have a Let’s Move with Leon programme where you can get weekly emails across 12 weeks which are tailored specifically for people with arthritis or muscular-skeletal conditions.
• If the person you’re caring for has dementia, they may enjoy taking part in the Love to Move activities put together by the British Gymnastics Foundation.
• Wheelpower has online videos if the person you care for is in a wheelchair
• British Blind Sport have audio workouts available on their website to help people stay active at home.
• Organisations such as MS Society, Diabetes UK and Parkinsons UK have also developed condition-specific advice which can be accessed on their websites. 

Top tips

Find out what is available locally

Although many organisations may have been closed during the lockdowns, now or in the future your local leisure centre, council or carers’ centre may offer sessions specifically for people with disabilities or long term conditions which you might also be able to take part in. You can use the Carers UK directory to find organisations you can contact in your area to see what’s available.

Celebrate the small achievements

You might feel disappointed you’re not able to achieve as much as you might do if you were able to exercise alone, but remember that every minute counts when it comes to physical activity and even a small amount of activity benefits your health.

These warm up and cool down suggestions from the NHS can also help reduce the risk of injury.