Arksey, H.

Almost seven million adults in Britain care for sick, elderly or disabled friends and relatives on an unpaid basis. Caring is physically and mentally demanding, and many carers say it has a negative impact on their own well-being. But despite this, carers’ health needs often go unaddressed. Sometimes this is due to professionals not recognising or understanding these needs. Sometimes it is due to difficulties getting an appointment that fits around their caring responsibilities.

The study aimed to establish the current state of knowledge about the effectiveness and cost- effectiveness of respite services and short breaks for carers for people with dementia.

The UK Government is concerned that women and men who care for disabled or sick relatives, or elderly people, and who also wish to take part in paid work should have increased opportunities to do so. However, many informal carers find combining work and care difficult; some may ‘choose’ to give up paid employment completely. The present paper draws on the findings from two projects to explore the extent to which the needs of employees with caring responsibilities are supported in the workplace.

This report documents the findings of a two year study looking at the impact of the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 in four local authority social services departments in northern England. The work was funded by the Department of Health under the Outcomes for Social Care initiative. We began the study in November 1997, two years after the full implementation of the Carers Act. The specific research questions the study addressed were: 1. what are the results of national policy in terms of local policy and practice in selected authorities? 2.

This paper focuses on scoping studies, an approach to reviewing the literature which to date has received little attention in the research methods literature. We distinguish between different types of scoping studies and indicate where these stand in relation to full systematic reviews. We outline a framework for conducting a scoping study based on our recent experiences of reviewing the literature on services for carers for people with mental health problems. Where appropriate, our approach to scoping the field is contrasted with the procedures followed in systematic reviews.

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.