Caregivers -- psychosocial factors

Bringing into operation a group of support and mutual help for informal carers of dependent elderly people at 'Vargas' Health Centre is a necessity that cant be postponed any longer.The project which we want to carry out takes into account the welfare of both the carer and the elderly and consist of supporting the carers by listening to them, by raising their awareness about the importance of the work they do, both for the relative they look after and for society as a whole, and by teaching them to look after themselves during the caring period.

Aims and objectives. To investigate anxiety in informal carers of stroke survivors in the first three months after discharge. Background. Informal carers, also called caregivers, play a vital role in supporting stroke survivors. However, caring for stroke survivors can have adverse consequences amongst carers such as burden, stress and reduced quality of life. Emotional distress is also commonly reported but anxiety has received less attention than depression. Design. Prospective, longitudinal, descriptive study. Method.

Against the backdrop of ongoing population ageing, informal care occupies an important place on European political agendas. This article discusses informal caregiving by middle aged and older persons in the Netherlands and other European countries, with particular emphasis on the role played by motives. The data are drawn from SHARE. Our results show that in the Netherlands, it is mainly feelings of being needed and obligation that increase the chance of informal care being given. Deriving pleasure from an activity, by contrast, reduces the likelihood.

This article explores informal carers' experiences in caregiving for people living with HIV and AIDS. The search for meaning encompasses the ways in which carers find meaning in caregiving. A grounded theory approach was taken. Data were collected by means of 43 in-depth interviews and participant observation. Caregivers felt that it was important to have control over the emphasis that HIV had within their lives and developed an attitude that put the virus in perspective. Getting involved in HIV and AIDS work outside of the immediate caregiving relationship was evident.

The stress of care giving for spouses and adult children has been extensively documented in the empirical literature. More recently attention has been paid to children's involvement in family care giving. Qualitative studies in the social welfare field have highlighted the social restrictions caring places upon children. There remains a need, however, to understand what children are thinking and feeling in an effort to cope with their care-giving demands.

The aim of this paper is to reflect on the application of a qualitative research method that presents novice researchers with a variety of challenges. It is suggested that prospective users of the grounded theory method should seek guidance from experts in the field. However, to find these experts has proved to be quite challenging. The research topic lends itself to a qualitative study in general using the grounded theory method in particular. 

Background and objectives Research into carers of people with young onset dementia (YOD) has highlighted that carers may experience more distress than late onset dementia (LOD) carers (e.g. Freyne, Kidd, Coen & Lawlor, 1999), and have specific needs which differ from those of LOO carers (e.g. Svanberg, Spectar & Slott, 2011). Difficulties with employment has been raised as a particular issue for this population (e.g. van Vliet, de Vugt, Bakker, Koopmans & Verhey, 2010), yet no qualitative study has examined the factors influencing carers' experience of employment.

This paper reports a survey of 75 organisations commissioning and providing secondary mental health services regarding their policies and practice in respect of payment to mental health services users and informal carers for expenses and their time when participating in the design, development, delivery and monitoring of services. A wide range of statutory and non-statutory organisations was invited to participate.

The explosion of interest in young people as carers over the last decade and a half conceals the fact that there are still no reliable estimates of the number of young people with caregiving responsibilities. This is even more problematic in circumstances where the 'looked after' person has a mental health problem. In this study, we reflect on what can be done to identify, assess and support young people in these circumstances.