Hmic

In every other industry, 'the customer is king' - so why should health care be any different? With reference to the Department of Health's newly published legislation, Real Accountability Guidance on the NHS duty to report on consultation, the author examines the importance of patient and carer input into NHS services. 

Findings from a small scale evaluation of one local voluntary sector carers' organisation in the north of England are used to discuss the commissioning of carers support services in rural areas. The issues raised match closely those identified in the new national strategy for carers both in terms of analysis of need and suggested responses. Respite in order to facilitate 'time out' and personalisation of services through a dedicated support officer emerge as the most important elements of service delivery from the carers' perspective.

Primary carers provide much of the day-to-day care for community-dwelling people living with dementia (PWD). Maintaining that contribution will require a more in-depth understanding of the primary carer role and the support needs that flow from that role. This study explored patterns of formal and informal support utilisation by people caring for a PWD in a rural-regional context. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 rural primary carers of a PWD and thematically analysed.

Care: Personal Lives and Social Policy considers how normative assumptions about the meanings, practices and relationships of care are embedded in our everyday lives. It explores the ways in which these shape our sense of self and the nature of our relations with others. At the same time the book examines how social policy and welfare practices construct these relations and give or deny them meaning and validity. 

Objective: caregiver effects of geriatric care models focusing primarily at the patient have not been consistently studied. We studied caregiver effects of a nurse-led comprehensive geriatric evaluation and management (GEM) programme for community-dwelling frail older people that showed—in a randomised comparison with usual care-–health-related quality of life benefits for the care receivers.

Carers UK surveyed 4,282 carers between September 2010 and July 2011 to examine the financial pressures of caring, and these pressures have on carers' health. The sample included carers from the 4 nations of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This report presents the key findings. Carers identified the extra costs of caring, the need to cut back to save money, debt and worry due to financial hardship.

Carers are often too wrapped up in their duties to think about their needs. This article reports on a pilot project in Kensington and Chelsea, run by charity wpf Counselling and Psychotherapy and funded by the council. The project aimed to offer carers of older people and people with mental health problems counselling to help them gain independence. The article also contains a brief case study.

Experiencing and managing a long-term condition places heavy emotional demands on a patient or carer. We conducted disease-specific focus groups for patients or carers. We recruited adults with diabetes, heart disease or hepatitis C, parents of children with asthma or diabetes, and carers of people with Alzheimer's disease. Participants had sole access to a PC and were asked to use three Internet interventions, each for 30 min. We conducted 10 disease-specific focus groups in three areas of the UK, involving a total of 40 participants.

Importance  Caregiver burden may result from providing care for patients with chronic illness. It can occur in any of the 43.5 million individuals providing support to midlife and older adults. Caregiver burden is frequently overlooked by clinicians.

Objectives  To outline the epidemiology of caregiver burden; to provide strategies to diagnose, assess, and intervene for caregiver burden in clinical practice; and to evaluate evidence on interventions intended to avert or mitigate caregiver burden and related caregiver distress.