Government policy

Governments of advanced European welfare states with ageing populations are struggling to reconcile what seem to be conflicting policies. On the one hand, they are trying to increase the labour market participation of women and older workers. On the other hand, they are making more demands on people to care for disabled, chronically ill and frail older relatives and friends. Those caregivers are more likely to be women and older people.

The article reports that financing for the social carers' support scheme was stopped as the British government felt the program is not reaching enough carers.

This article advocates incorporating biographical narratives into social work practice involving older lesbian, gay and bisexual service users. Offering a critique of ‘sexuality-blind’ conditions in current policy and practice, the discussion draws on qualitative data to illustrate the potential benefits of narrative approaches for both practitioners and service users.

The Carers Strategies in England and Wales herald opportunities to develop new ways to support carers. This paper reports findings from a five-year study looking at the Carers Strategy in Wales. It presents interview data arising from fieldwork with carers and statutory and voluntary sector staff. Our findings highlight a gap between the positive perceptions of staff concerning improvements in the availability and types of support to carers and carers' everyday experiences.

In February 2009 the government set out its plan to meet one of the biggest challenges facing England's health and social care system - dementia. The national dementia strategy is one year old but a key study has found progress is slow. Vern Pitt visited Croydon – which has long been held up as a leader in dementia care – to ask professionals and carers about how the strategy’s objectives and the challenges posed by the condition are being tackled.

Extending choice and control for social care service users is a central feature of current English policies. However, these have comparatively little to say about choice in relation to the informal carers of relatives, friends or older people who are disabled or sick. To explore the realities of choice as experienced by carers, the present paper reviews research published in English since 1985 about three situations in which carers are likely to face choices: receiving social services; the entry of an older person to long-term care; and combining paid work and care.