Family

Aim: The aim of the study was to explore the information needs of informal carers, and how information from health professionals can become more effective for families caring for people with epilepsy. Methods: A combined methodology was used, comprising an interview study and a survey. Twelve in-depth interviews with carers were carried out. The questionnaire was developed using the interview data, to which 70 carers responded. Results: Four main themes have been drawn from the study.

In this article the authors explore the day-to-day lives of two groups of young people. Both were the subject of research activities carried out between 1997 and 2000. The outcomes of that work into the lives of young carers and young people with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) have been extensively documented elsewhere; here we draw out some of the common factors that serve to socially isolate and exclude young people who are heavily reliant on, or are drawn into supporting, home-based caring relationships.

Aim.  This article is a report on a review of the effect of coping strategies on subjective burden in informal caregivers of older adults.

Background.  Informal care has negative effects on caregivers’ health, and subjective burden is one of these. It has been linked with other effects (e.g. anxiety and depression). Thus, greater prevention of subjective burden will mean increased prevention of these effects. To achieve this, identification of factors related to subjective burden is essential.

In Germany the community care system is still not developed to meet the needs of families with dementia. The Scottish need-assessment CarenapD (Care Needs Assessment Pack for Dementia) records the need status of persons with dementia and initiates a care plan. Also the needs of informal carers are measured. After translating the assessment into German language, its practicality and adaptability was tested in this study from the perspective of the professional user. Also was tested, how the CarenapD results interpret the community care.

Continual and/or repetitive informal caring and the part childhood, developmental and socially constructed identity play roles in adult informal care, form the background to the questions of why individuals gravitate toward such relationships and why they often continue to care in the face of overwhelming obstacles. A synthesis of the literature is presented, leading to personal histories as a method of discovery. The Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method’s minimalist interview technique is put forth as the key data-gathering event.

The study examined the effect of adult children’s disability on parents’ physical health in later life and the extent to which parents’ symptoms of alcoholism in mid-life moderates the link between children’s disability and later life parental health. Analyses are based on data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. The analytic sample included parents of children with developmental disabilities (n = 145) or mental health problems (n = 200) and 2,432 parents of unaffected children.

The increase of chronic illness as a leading cause of death has given rise to self-care and expert patient initiatives. Caring for chronically ill people places a tremendous economic burden on the health care system, informal carers, the labour market and benefit system (Department of Health 2001, 2004, 2005). Thus, in many countries health policy encourages patients to become ‘experts’ in the self-management of their conditions in the belief that it will help save money and improve health and well-being (Wanless 2002).

Background: no longitudinal studies have addressed the effect of late life depression on the physical and mental health status of their informal caregivers.

Objective: to examine whether a diagnosis of depression in older medical inpatients is associated with the physical and mental health status of their informal caregivers after 6 months, independent of the physical health of the care recipient.

Design: longitudinal observational study with 6-month follow-up.

The use of physical restraints is still common practice in the care for the elderly in various settings in Europe, Asia and the USA. Physical restraints can be defined as any limitation in an individual’s freedom of movement by using measures or equipments such as belts, and chairs with a locked table. Prevalence estimates of restraint use range from 20% to more than 60% (including restrictive bedrails, belts, deep or overturned chairs, chairs with a table). In most cases physical restraints are used as safety measures, mainly for the prevention of falls.