British nursing index bni - exported on 8/7/2016

Department of Health strategy for supporting informal carers 'Carers at the Heart of 21st Century Families and Communities' (2008), which addresses government short-term commitments and a 10-year plan. The key principles are summarised and reactions from carers and organisations are reviewed. A case study of a community learning disability nurse supporting a mother and her learning disabled son is included. [(BNI unique abstract)] 

Background: Informal dementia caregiving has traditionally been perceived as an extremely stressful process; however, more recent research has started to focus on the positive aspects of providing care. Studies indicate that caregivers who derive something positive out of caregiving have better well-being. However, there has been little exploration of the factors linked to caregivers identifying positive aspects of providing care. The aim of the current study was to explore the predictors of finding meaning in caregiving.

Background.  Responsibility for medication can be an integral part of the informal caring role. Aims and objectives.  To explore partnerships between older people and their carers in the management of medication and consider the implications for health professionals. Methods.  Older people and their carers were identified through community pharmacies in four randomly selected areas of England. Data regarding their activities, responsibilities and experiences of managing medication were collected in semi-structured interviews conducted in respondents' own homes.

Aim. This paper is a report of a study conducted to explore the determinants of satisfaction with health and social care services in the last 3 months and 3 days of life as reported by bereaved relatives of those who died from a stroke in an institutional setting.

Background. There is limited research about how best to meet the needs of those who die from stroke. A thorough understanding of the determinants of satisfaction with end of life care is crucial for effective service provision to increase awareness of the needs of dying patients.

The purpose of this study was to describe nurses' experiences of their collaboration and relationships with family members in institutional respite care for the elderly. The family has a particularly important role in respite care, which is an extension of care provided at home. However no published studies were found on this subject. The data were collected through qualitative interviews (N=22).

Objective: This study examined the features of informal end-of-life care of older people living in the community and the association between informal care characteristics and dying at home. Methods: Retrospective data were obtained from interviews and self-administered questionnaires of 56 persons who had been primary caregivers of older relatives in the last three months of their lives. Results: Results showed that informal caregivers of terminally ill older people living in the community provided a considerable amount of personal, household, and management care.

There are around 6 million ‘informal carers’ in the UK. This series of 5 articles sets out to explain what informal caring is and how healthcare assistants and nurses can work with and meet the needs of a variety of informal carers in a variety of clinical and healthcare settings and environments. This short series will commence with a brief definition of what informal caring is, placing this short definition within a demographic framework.

The provision of home-based palliative care requires a substantial unpaid contribution from family and friends (i.e. informal care). The present cross-sectional descriptive study, conducted between September 2003 and April 2004, describes this contribution and the impact it has on those providing informal care. The participants were 82 informal carers of patients registered with two community palliative care services in Sydney, Australia (40% of eligible carers).

This study focused on the experiences of informal caregivers of older adults and explored whether employment, use of home-care services, or other factors influence the health of caregivers and their ability to manage their caregiving and other responsibilities. Focus groups conducted with 26 caregivers and personal interviews with 4 caregivers identified 12 themes under 5 conceptual areas: caregiver health, relationships, independence, employment, and use of home-care services. The findings reveal that caregiving coupled with other responsibilities can have serious health effects.