User views

The present paper reports on a qualitative research project designed to expose the presently unrecognised minutiae of community nurses’ work with cancer patients at home, and to identify the ways in which these, combined to form comprehensive care episodes, contribute to physical and psychosocial well-being. The project was conducted in two locations in New South Wales, Australia, one metropolitan and one rural.

Differences in perspective between clients, carers and practitioners are familiar from the literature. Findings from two research projects are reported here, which identify mismatched perspectives and appear to question the foundations on which community care policy and practice rest. The article discusses features of the policy and practice context that contribute to the likelihood of divergent views about need and appropriate or effective service provision within community care.

Most older people living in 24-hour care settings have dementia. We employed qualitative interviews to explore positive and negative aspects of the experience of family carers, staff and people with dementia living in 10 homes in London and West Essex, selected to cover the full range of 24-hour long-term care settings. The interview used open semi-structured questions.

This article reports the evaluation of a 24-week support group for people with recently diagnosed dementia.  The group was evaluated in four ways: transcript analysis of group sessions, interviews with participants and carers about the group at 8 and 20 weeks from the start of the group, rating of the importance of eight therapeutic factors by participants, carers and group leaders, mood scales completed by participants and their carers before the group and at 8 and 20 weeks after it started.  The evaluation suggests that as the group progressed, participants became more positive about usin

Background: There is increasing recognition that psychological interventions for people with dementia and their carers are of value. Neuropsychological considerations and an exploration of the literature point towards the potential benefits of non-verbal, body-oriented interventions to work psychotherapeutically with people as their cognitive abilities deteriorate.

The imperative for participation in social work education has led to consideration of the ways in which service users’ and carers’ voices can best be heard by students. At Glyndŵr University, this debate has resulted in the development of a service user and carer-led module which will introduce students to a variety of creative approaches as a way of telling narratives of experience. In preparation for the module, a pilot project was run to assess the particular benefits of using animation for this purpose.

People with learning disabilities often have difficulty identifying and meeting their health needs and accessing appropriate health services. The Department of Health (1999a), NHS Executive (1998), and Mencap (1998) report that this group has increased needs compared with the general population, yet these needs are often poorly met. 

This paper report on a study undertaken in Glasgow of young South Asian people with learning disabilities and their carers, and explores the extent to which they are socially excluded. Although there is an increasing political emphasis on the inclusion of people with learning disabilities, the families concerned continue to experience isolation, both socially and in terms of service provision. Access to service is often problematic, because of linguistic and cultural barriers and families appear to be reluctant to use day centres.

Objective: This study explores the experiences of family members caring for a person who compulsively hoards.

Design: Ten participants, all ‘key carers’ for a hoarding family member, were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule designed for the purpose of the study.

Methods: Transcribed interviews were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis.

Describes a project to investigate carers' views of support provided to them after admission of their relative to a dementia assessment ward, and the planning of a support package for relatives (Caring and Coping with Dementia).