General practitioners

Background: Family caregivers are often the first line of support for people requiring care; although they may personally stand to benefit, these activities substantially increase the risk of physical and emotional stress. General practitioners (GPs) may provide important support and stabilisation, but need to adjust to the needs and expectations of this group in order to do so. Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare the needs of family caregivers from GPs to the support they actually experience.

BACKGROUND: Persons with dementia (PwD) need support to remain in their own homes as long as possible. Family caregivers, homecare nurses and general practitioners (GPs) play an important role in providing this support, particularly in rural settings. Assessing caregiver burden is important to prevent adverse health effects among this population. This study analysed perceived burden and needs of family caregivers of PwD in rural areas from the perspectives of healthcare professionals and family caregivers.

This toolkit provides links to a range of resources to support GP practices and health professionals in ensuring patients nearing the end of life, and those close to them, receive the highest quality of care and support. It includes tools, guidance, current best practice policy, and legislation for healthcare professionals. It also provides links to training resources to help with continuing professional development and audit tools to evaluate practice. A section providing information for patients, informal carers, and those close to someone nearing the end of life is also included.

This resource is a collaboration between the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and The Princess Royal Trust for Carers. It has been developed with the help of Sheffield University and over twenty GP practices who have piloted and evaluated some of the resources

As most terminal and palliative care is in the community, general practitioners (GPs) have an important role to play. This study presents bereaved carers' views of the palliative care provided by GPs. It suggests that symptom control may not be optimal.

For the past 15 years a central theme of government health-care policy has been to encourage the health service to change the way it relates to those who use it. Recent health policy documents such as Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change (Scottish Executive, 2000) emphasise a more integrated way of working that reflects co-operative partnerships.

Objectives: To understand how carers of dementia sufferers gain access to community support and to determine potential barriers for carers.

Design: Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews of carers after an Aged Care Assessment Team intervention.

Setting: Australian metropolitan Aged Care Assessment Team.

Subjects: 24 live-in carers of dementia sufferers.

The role of families in supporting people with dementia is widely acknowledged in literature and UK government policy. The role of general practice in ensuring early and effective support for people living with mental health problems including dementia is also enshrined in UK policy. As part of a larger study, a total of 122 carers were asked to rate predefined aspects of the primary care response. For some responses they were also asked to provide a reason for their rating.

In France, a wide range of care and support services exist for community dwelling people with Alzheimer's disease (AD). These are coordinated by the general practitioner (GP). We investigated interventions that were ‘prescribed’ by French GPs and analysed their perceived barriers to arranging these. Thirty-nine percent of GPs responded to a postal survey, which was sent to 1105 physicians belonging to the Sentinel GP Research Network and to 524 GPs consulting in the Rhône-Alpes region of France.