British nursing index bni - exported on 8/7/2016

Objective:The consequences of informal care giving have been well documented in recent decades, and in many fields of illness and chronic disease, the role of informal carers has been recognised and investigated. Informal caregivers in the field of wound management and prevention have been largely unnoticed, despite the chronic nature of many wounds, the enduring nature of treatments and the impact on the physical and social environment; factors likely to have a significant impact on family and friends.

This second article on family care-givers will focus on how healthcare assistants (HCAs) can support such care-givers within a variety of care settings, including GP practices, healthcare centres, hospital departments, hospital wards and in the care-giver's own home. Suggestions for training of HCAs who are likely to work with family care-givers will be proposed.

Negative social attitudes, discrimination, and homophobia affect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) individuals during their lifetimes. These experiences can affect how these individuals access health services and interact with health professionals, resulting in adverse outcomes compared with their heterosexual counterparts. End-of-life experiences can also be shaped by these factors.

As you may have heard, the Queen’s Speech, which opened the 2008-2009 parliamentary year, included reference to the importance of rights for informal carers (House of Commons, 2008). I am no stranger to the world of informal caring as many of you may know. Indeed, I have made it no secret and frequently mention it at the annual Royal College of Nursing Congress and have done so since 2001.

The first part of the paper argues that the care relationship is crucial to securing care quality, which has implications for the way in which quality is achieved and measured. However, for more than twenty years, governments have emphasised the part that increasing market competition and, more recently, user choice of services can play in driving up the quality of care. The second part of the paper analyses the development of social care services for older people, from the reform of 1990 to the changes following the general election of 2010.

Objective The aim of this paper is to report on the findings of a consultation project exploring demand for mental health related complementary therapy services in the local area.

After reading a continuing professional development article on dementia, Susan Briggs reflected on how she deals with clients' relatives. I read this article with interest and subsequently undertook my own research, which I used to reflect on a recent experience. The following is a short excerpt from my reflection.

Purpose/Objectives: To examine whether primary caregivers' helping behaviors are predicted by their illness attribution reactions as proposed in Weiner's model.

This qualitative study explored the positive meanings constructed and ascribed to the experience of providing palliative care at home by bereaved informal cancer carers, a group of individuals who are in a position to make sense of their caring experiences as a coherent whole. Twenty-two bereaved cancer carers, living in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, were interviewed as part of a larger mixed-method study examining the experience of informal cancer care. Participants were recruited through cancer support groups and cancer clinics, and through the Cancer Council NSW.

Aims and objectives.  Few surveys have been carried out documenting the quality of life for non-cancer patients in general district hospitals reaching the final trajectory towards death. We carried out a survey of 80 patients facing the final stages of their chronic illness as well as their carers and hospital staff.