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This article reviews literature on the experiences of family carers when a relative goes into long-term care, with the aim of informing nurses on providing support. Experiences before and after the care placement are explored. The study found nurses fail to recognise carers' expert knowledge and skills about their cared for relatives. Families perceive their loved one's values, beliefs and life history are ignored. Nurses need to challenge barriers to communication, and move away from paternalistic and ritualised care practice. 

This report presents findings of a questionnaire-based survey of the financial position of carers in the UK conducted by the Carers National Association (CNA), the starting point of which was that government carers strategies published recently for England and Scotland have omitted to address carers' financial problems. The survey suggested that a large proportion of carers providing substantial care are faced with financial hardship.

There are approximately six million people in the UK who provide care and support for someone, usually a relative or partner, who, because of age, health or disability, are unable to cope alone. Although this form of unpaid care work saves the taxpayer an estimated £34 billion a year in health and social services, the carers themselves are often left in poverty, excluded from any active social life and often without paid employment. This publication draws on recent research that looks at the way caring impacts on the lives of different types of carers.

Fall detectors are a form of remote monitoring assistive technology that have the potential to enhance the wellbeing of adults at risk from falling. In this paper, the ethical issues raised by the use of fall detectors are examined. The fall detection devices currently available are outlined, and a summary of how these devices require social-care services, or family carers, to respond in particular ways, is provided. The ethical issues associated with the use of fall detectors are classified under four headings: autonomy, privacy, benefit, and the use of resources.

Macmillan Cancer Support’s Worried Sick report presents a summary of the findings of a major quantitative survey conducted by Opinion Leader Research (OLR). The survey explores the impact of a cancer diagnosis on the lives of both people with cancer (who have received the diagnosis) and people affected by cancer (family members and friends who often help them cope with their cancer experience).

Many carers need an outside interest, and Susan McGrath explains how this is being achieved in a project in East Sussex.

Psychotropic medications are a treatment commonly used for people with learning disabilities. Legislation and guidance suggest that, for a person to give informed consent to treatment, they must have knowledge of the potential treatment. This study of 21 people with learning disabilities, and their carers and prescribers, living in four different regions of England, suggests that few of the people with learning disabilities were fully informed about their treatment.

Respite care is a cornerstone service for the home management of people with dementia. It is used by carers to mitigate the stress related to the demands of caring by allowing time for them to rest and do things for themselves, thus maintaining the caring relationship at home and perhaps forestalling long-term placement in a residential aged care facility. Despite numerous anecdotal reports in support of respite care, its uptake by carers of people with dementia remains relatively low.

This paper reports on a study in two NHS mental health trusts in England in 2008-2009. Data were collected from staff, service users and carers to inform service and workforce developments. The findings were reported relate to service users and carers and concur with staff views. They relate to modernisation of services, the challenges of a multiplicity of stakeholders and organisations, as well as the need to involve users and carers in developments.

This unique bi-lingual book records the reminiscences of 13 carers from Sheffield's Yemeni community.The stories were collected by noted local writer Debjani Chetterjee and translated by Abdul Razak Saleh.