Applied social sciences index & abstracts (assia) assia - exported on 8/7/2016

Background. Despite decades of research showing high rates of unmet need in older people, there currently is little understanding of why these needs remain unmet. This study was performed as part of a larger feasibility study of a multidisciplinary needs assessment tool in primary care.

Objective. The aim of the present study was to explore patients' and carers' help-seeking behaviour and perceived barriers to meeting unmet needs.

AIM OF THE STUDY: This study examined the experiences of informal carers who were aged 75 years and over.

BACKGROUND: It has been estimated that 13% of those aged over 65 years are providing some form of informal care. Although there is a substantial body of work reporting the experiences of informal carers, little attention has been paid to the specific situation faced by older carers.

Without the contribution of informal carers of disabled, sick & older people, organised social care in England & Wales could not cope. However, carers can often experience financial hardship, poor health & social isolation, & may find it difficult to combine work & care. The government has developed policies to support carers in their caring role, while also introducing measures to assist carers to work, reflecting the emphasis on paid work as a driving force to reduce poverty.

In its latest report on palliative care, the health committee of the House of Commons recorded the Department of Health's admission that the lack of palliative care for patients without cancer was the greatest inequity of all.1 In the United Kingdom, people die in hospices almost solely from cancer, although it accounts for only 25% of all deaths.1 w1 Yet patients dying from dementia have been shown to have healthcare needs comparable to those of cancer patients.2 The palliative care approach provides appropriate control of symptoms, emphasises overall quality of life, takes a holistic appr

Background. Expressed emotion (EE) measured from relatives and informal carers has been consistently demonstrated to be associated with clinical outcome in schizophrenic patients. There have also been published studies that have investigated EE in professional carers that have suggested that the quality of the relationship between staff and patient may also be associated with patient outcomes.

People with learning disabilities have high dependency needs and high prevalence of physical, psychological and social morbidities. Some studies have shown that South Asian and white populations have a similar prevalence of learning disabilities and related psychological morbidity (McGrother et al, 2002), although other studies have shown an increased prevalence of severe levels of learning disabilities in the South Asian population (Emerson et al, 1997).

Describes a new strand in this journal in its coverage of research that involves mental health service users and is important to their concerns. Looks at some of the ways in which service user involvement can change research and heralds the dawn of a new era where service users and informal carers are not just the subjects of investigation, but can now have an effect on an influential research forum. (Quotes from original text)

Background  Research on the dental health of people with intellectual disability has consistently reported more untreated dental disease, more extractions and fewer fillings than in the general population. This paper describes the oral health of participants at the 2005 Glasgow Special Olympics (SO), relating this to the general population studied in the 1998 UK Adult Dental Health Survey (ADHS) and to participants' age and region of residence.