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The UK’s 290,000 young carers aged 16 to 24 often fall into the gap between adults’ and children’s services. Researcher Alison Petch reports

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the interventions for improving mental health of caregivers of people with stroke by synthesizing individual studies. A meta-analysis was performed to summarize findings of intervention studies of caregivers of elderly stroke patients. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis and a publication bias were tested.

The main focus of this paper is the development of an appropriate framework to characterize the process of long-term care utilization by the Dutch elderly. Three broad categories of care services are considered, namely, informal care, formal care at home, and institutional care. The use of these care alternatives is modelled jointly, and stochastic dependence is allowed between the various care options. Special attention is given to the concept of health status and to the potential endogeneity of this variable in the model.

This guide considers the potential of assistive technology to contribute to the care of people with dementia in the community. It has been written by members of the ASTRID project, involving the UK, Norway, the Netherlands and Ireland. It contains an introduction to the project, an account of technology in action, discussion of how to incorporate technology in a needs assessment, how to obtain and use assistive technology, and a review of ethical issues.

Background Previous studies have highlighted the effects of informal caring on mental health, but evidence for its wider impact remains scant. We explored associations between informal care and a range of health (and health-related) measures. We also considered previously neglected differences between informal care ‘at home’ and care elsewhere, along with neighbourhood attachment as a possible modifier of the associations we found.

This report presents results of projections of use and supply of long-term care for older persons in four countries representative of different long-term care systems: Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland. Using a standardised methodology, the projections show that between 2010 and 2060, the numbers of users of residential care, formal home care and informal care are projected to increase in all countries, but at different rates. The results also indicate that if current patterns of care use and supply prevail, supply of informal and formal care is likely to fall behind demand.

The delivery of services and benefits to people supporting older and disabled relatives and friends depends largely on their identification within constructs of ‘care-giving’ and ‘carer’. Those who are married or living with a partner may be particularly resistant to adopting the identity of ‘care-giver’ or ‘care receiver’. This paper investigates the circumstances of couples and their adoption of carer identities, drawing on a study of the financial implications of a partner's death.