It's part of the 'SETU Podcasts' series and hears from those involved including a former family carer who completed a programme.
A new podcast about the bespoke programmes that have been delivered for family carers at SETU has been added to the SETU Podcasts series, which shares voices reflecting life and experiences across all campuses at the University.
In 2022 the Higher Education Authority (HEA) awarded SETU’s Faculty of Education and Lifelong Learning €1 million to deliver higher education programmes to family carers.
The project culminated in a national showcase in Carlow town, which was attended by President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly. The event showcased a report on the immense impact of the project that led to a commitment for further funding for family carers in 2026.
During the podcast, Nicola McEntee, Project Lead, outlined that family carers face many barriers in terms of accessing higher education.
“The initiative has provided a transformative and holistic learning experience for family carers. By delivering programmes online, barriers such as travel were removed, while financial support helped address the cost of accessing higher education. Flexible online delivery also enabled carers to remain at home and continue meeting the needs of those they care for while engaging in their studies,” Nicola said.
Broad range of modules
Dr Jerry Dixon, a lecturer on the Level 6 Certificate in Introduction to Psychology, one of the many courses that were offered as part of the project, explained on the podcast that they covered a range of modules including behavioural, clinical, and cognitive psychology; psychodynamics and humanism.
“Caring is quite a broad church. The kind of requirements or experiences carers have, means they might have dappled in aspects of the subjects covered on the course, without them ever being labelled or explained in this way. So, the idea of covering such a broad range of psychology is to empower family carers so they can recognise these subjects when they face them. It’s an opportunity to link their experiences to psychological services and to empower them when they are advocating on behalf of people,” he said.
“The initiative has provided a transformative and holistic learning experience for family carers. By delivering programmes online, barriers such as travel were removed, while financial support helped address the cost of accessing higher education. Flexible online delivery also enabled carers to remain at home and continue meeting the needs of those they care for while engaging in their studies”
Nicola McEntee, Project Lead
Support for family carers
Podcast guest Nicky Kerr is a former family carer who has just completed the Level 6 Certificate in Introduction to Psychology. She explains how the course has helped her:
“I was a teacher before, and I thought education was behind me. But since losing my parents, I’ve been a bit lost. The programme gave me a purpose, and something to look forward to. I found it fascinating, it offered a really broad spectrum of subjects to think about, and Jerry our lecturer was extremely supportive, friendly and explained things so well,” she said.
Collaborative approach
The project is led by SETU’s Faculty of Education and Lifelong Learning, in collaboration with a number of organisations supporting family carers including Family Carers Ireland (FCI), Care Alliance Ireland, Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, The Irish Deaf Society, and the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care.
Access the podcast and more info
You can listen to the podcast here, and to find out more about the Family Carers project at SETU, and the various projects offered, visit familycarers.setu.ie.