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In this paper, we examine associations between employment history and marital status and unpaid care provision among those aged 40–59 in England and Wales. We used data from a large nationally representative longitudinal study, the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study. Initially based on a sample drawn from the 1971 Census, in 2001 this study included data on 110 464 people aged 40–59 of whom 5% provided 20 or more hours per week of unpaid care.

Background This study aimed to develop an innovation to assist general practitioners (GPs) in Australia to proactively address the needs of caregivers of people with cancer. Method Six GPs were video recorded each consulting six actor-patients in their respective practices. All cases depicted caregivers of people with cancer. The patients were instructed to complete a Needs Assessment Tool for Caregivers (NAT-C), before the consultation. Actor-patients were instructed to present the NAT-C to three of the six GPs they consulted, selected at random.

INTRODUCTION: Informal caregivers are important resources for community-dwelling frail elderly. But caring can be challenging. To be able to provide long-term care to the elderly, informal caregivers need to be supported as well. The aim of this study is to review the current best evidence on the effectiveness of different types of support services targeting informal caregivers of community-dwelling frail elderly.

The European Commission (DG EMPL) invited tenders for a study of care provision within families and the socio-economic impact of family care-giving. The tender was won by a team of researchers from the Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, England and Vilans, the Dutch Expertise Centre on Long-Term Care.

BACKGROUND: In 1998, a research study was conducted to compare existing programs in the European Union providing both care to people with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type, and support to their informal caregiver. METHOD: Five programs were selected in seven centres. Home social services (Denmark), Day centres (Germany), Expert Centres (Belgium, Spain), Group Living/Cantou (Sweden, France), Respite hospitalization (France). In each centre, 50 patients were randomly selected. The questionnaire addressed informal caregivers (or referents).

OBJECTIVE: To provide descriptive information about a short-term educational programme for rural carers of people with a mental illness, living in the Loddon Campaspe Southern Mallee region.

METHOD: The Carers Education Exchange Programme is a flexible, needs-based model that can be modified to cater for individual groups. It consists of a number of sessions on topics relevant to caring for someone with a mental illness, held over a period of several weeks. The programme is offered at locations throughout the region, making it accessible to carers in isolated, rural areas.

When people with learning disabilities have care duties thrust upon them they can become isolated and stressed. The author looks at how they can be better supported. [Journal abstract]

Based on two years of fieldwork, conducted between March 2003 and March 2005 in the health care industry of the northeastern United States, this study shows that the work of family caregivers of elders goes far beyond previously recognized care in the home to acknowledge care inside health care facilities and in conjunction with community services.

Written from an American perspective, this book tackles head on the powerful myths and discriminatory attitudes that underlie one of the unspoken moral disasters of contemporary life: that so many older people die, before their time, cut off from their family and their homes, unhappy and alone.