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The reality for many families where there is chronic illness, mental health problems, disability, alcohol or substance misuse is that children under the age of 18 are involved in caring. Many of these children - known as 'young carers' - will be providing regular and significant care, either episodically or over many years, often 'hidden' to health, social care and other welfare professionals and services. These children have most often been invisible in social policy and professional practice.

The review discussed in this paper provides a unique synthesis of evidence and knowledge about carers. The authors adopted a scoping review methodology drawing on a wide range of material from many different sources published between 2000 and 2016. It offers key insights into what we know and how we know it; reinforces and expands evidence about carers’ profile; shows knowledge is uneven, e.g. much is known about working carers, young carers and carers of people with dementia but far less is about older carers or caring for someone with multiple needs.

An integrative review was conducted to evaluate and synthesize the current state of knowledge of family carers’ experiences of emergency psychiatric crises of an adult relative. A literature review was performed by searching key terms in EBSCO (CINAHL, Criminal Justice Abstracts, Social Work Abstracts), and Proquest (MEDLINE, PsycINFO) citation databases; 3,350 citations were retrieved and screened for inclusion.

Background: Prevalence of stroke and traditional filial responsibility involve adult children in caregiving to their parent stroke survivors in China. Support resources are insufficient because of the shrinking size of family and the underdeveloped support system. Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the correlates of perceived social support among adult child caregivers of parent stroke survivors in China. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational design was used in this study.

Background: A key challenge in meeting the palliative care needs of people in advanced age is the multiple healthcare and social service agencies typically involved in their care. The 'patient navigator' model, originally developed in cancer care, is the professional solution most often recommended to address this challenge. However, little attention has been paid, or is known, about the role that family carers play in enabling their dying relatives to negotiate service gaps.

Objectives: To examine the effects of a telephone-delivered intervention, Family Intervention: Telephone Tracking-Caregiver (FITT-C), on community support and healthcare use by dementia caregivers.; Design: Randomized, controlled trial.; Setting: Academic medical center.; Participants: Dyads (n = 250) of distressed informal dementia caregivers and care recipients.; Intervention: Caregivers were randomly assigned to receive the FITT-C (n = 133) or telephone support (TS; n = 117).

Background: Internationally, evidence on the support needs of family carers who look after a terminally ill adult in home settings is incomplete. Aim: To illustrate the relevance of 'relevant background worries' in family carers' accounts of caring at home for a dying adult. Design: A qualitative cross-sectional observational study was conducted in England, United Kingdom, in 2011-2013 on the experiences of adult family carers (n = 59) of older dying adults (aged 50+ years) with malignant and/or non-malignant conditions.

Objectives: The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) was developed to advance participants' self-care of chronic illness and may be offered to both individuals with chronic conditions and their caregivers. Previous studies of CDSMP have identified multiple resulting health benefits for participants as well as factors associated with participants' completion rates.

This article is the fifth in a series, Supporting Family Caregivers: No Longer Home Alone, published in collaboration with the AARP Public Policy Institute. Results of focus groups conducted as part of the AARP Public Policy Institute's No Longer Home Alone video project supported evidence that family caregivers aren't being given the information they need to manage the complex care regimens of their family members. This series of articles and accompanying videos aims to help nurses provide caregivers with the tools they need to manage their family member's medications.