Evaluation

Carers are family members, friends, and neighbours who perform medical tasks and personal care, manage housekeeping and financial affairs, and provide emotional support to people who are ill, disabled, or elderly. From a carer's perspective, the primary requisite for a good doctor is competence. Assuming equal technical skills and knowledge, the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ doctors comes down to attitudes and behaviour-communication. An important aspect of communication is what doctors say to carers, and how they interpret what carers say to them.

Support for carers now has a higher profile following the introduction of the Carers' Act (2004). In this article, Gary Kitchen reports on a successful review his organisation, Get Heard, carried out of a support service to carers of people with dementia in Cheshire, and demonstrates how vital these services are.

Current government policy emphasises professional accountability, Best Value, evidence-based practice and outcomes for users and carers. In this context, being able to demonstrate the effectiveness of routine practice is increasingly important. This article considers the key issues in collecting information about the outcomes of equipment and adaptations. These include: the assessment of the full range of outcomes; the timing of data collection; the use of standardised and individualised measures; and linking outcomes to interventions.

We evaluated a care-coordination project assisted by a screen-phone to support and educate caregivers. A total of 113 caregivers of home-dwelling veterans with dementia were recruited to the study: 72 were white, 32 were African American and nine were Hispanic. Caregivers were assessed for burden, depression, coping, quality of life, knowledge and satisfaction. None of the outcome measures changed significantly after twelve months. Forty care-recipient and caregiver dyads responded to the twelve-month telephone satisfaction survey.

Up to one and a half million people in Britain are involved in caring for a relative or friend with mental illness or dementia. Recent government policy has emphasised the needs of this particular group of carers, but effective support can be implemented only if managers and practitioners know what works.

Looks at the findings from a review of mental health carer support and the effectiveness of the services on offer. The review was carried out by the Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of York.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of a voluntary sector based befriending scheme in improving psychological wellbeing and quality of life for family carers of people with dementia. Design Single blind randomised controlled trial. Setting Community settings in East Anglia and London. Participants 236 family carers of people with primary progressive dementia. Intervention Contact with a befriender facilitator and offer of match with a trained lay volunteer befriender compared with no befriender facilita

Reports on an evaluation of the efforts of the Royal United Hospital (RUH) Bath to improve the support offered to people with dementia and their family carers. The intervention included the recruitment of three part-time dementia coordinators, a seven-day older adult mental health liaison service with nurses and a psychiatrist, additional staff training and an increased emphasis on arts and music in the wards.

This briefing paper draws attention to the experience of black and minority ethnic carers in the context of mainstream service provision and recent policy developments such as the National Carers Strategies, service user and carer involvement and the personalisation agenda. It acknowledges that marginalisation is often a consequence of lack of support for both carers and black and minority ethnic communities in health and social care. The paper highlights the diversity of carers from these ethnic backgrounds and the multifaceted impact of discrimination.