Miscellaneous

More than 40% of the respondents in the British Household Panel Survey provide informal care at least for one year within the period 1991-2003 and carers are usually less likely to hold simultaneously a paid job. There is little evidence on the mechanism that links informal care provision and labour market outcomes. This paper provides evidence on the pathways through which this pattern arises using a multivariate dynamic panel data model that accounts for state-dependence, feedback effects and correlated unobserved heterogeneity.

Telecare devices have been put forward as a potentially effective intervention to benefit the well-being and functioning of informal carers of people with social care needs, and to reduce the negative effects of providing care to a family member or friend. Much of the evidence used to support this view is qualitative, and therefore does not provide good-quality evidence to answer questions about its effect on carer outcomes. This review aimed to document and evaluate the quantitative evidence base for the effect of telecare interventions on outcomes for informal carers.

It is increasingly common that cancer patients are cared for at home at the end of life, with help from advanced home care teams. This may have positive implications for cancer patients and their families, but it may also be burdensome to the family caregivers with implications for their health and well-being. This qualitative study was therefore initiated to prospectively explore how family caregivers reason about their expectations of providing end-of-life care at home for relatives with cancer, enrolled in advanced palliative home care units.

Caring for patients with various conditions is demanding and stressful and can have a negative impact on both physical and psychological health. This paper reports a systematic review and critical appraisal of the evidence on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction for the family caregivers of patients with various conditions. There were improvements in the self-rated psychological symptoms, such as stress, depression, anxiety and mindfulness.

Aims and objectives.  To explore the personal experiences of carers of stroke survivors and to elicit their views and opinions of what constitute the major issues and concerns of people in their situation.

Background.  The unexpected nature of stroke can propel people into the role of carer with little or no warning. Some carers of stroke survivors suffer from considerable stress and a range of psychological and physical disorders.

Design.  A small-scale qualitative study of experienced carers of stroke survivors.

Background: Approaching end of life is often a time of vulnerability; this is particularly so for people with dementia and their families where loss of capacity and the ability to communicate, make assessment and shared decision-making difficult. Research has consistently shown that improvements in care and services are required to support better quality and more person-centred care for people with dementia towards and at end of life. However, the views of people with dementia about what factors contribute to high-quality care at this time are a neglected area.

There is an increasing international policy direction to promote home death for dying patients which will impact on the demands placed on family carers. The early identification of carer needs and appropriate intervention can help avoid crisis situations for the carer and avoidable hospital admissions which are reported to be a global concern. The aim of the study was to explore what professionals and carers of patients with cancer and advanced progressive illness, in their last year of life, find burdensome and to develop an alert system for use by non-specialist staff. 

The Caring with Confidence (CwC) programme aimed to provide support to 37,000 carers in England. It was the largest programme of training for carers ever planned in the UK, with a total budget of £15.2m over three years. It was designed to provide training and support to carers, thereby giving them greater choice and control in different aspects of their lives.

The study examined the effect of adult children’s disability on parents’ physical health in later life and the extent to which parents’ symptoms of alcoholism in mid-life moderates the link between children’s disability and later life parental health. Analyses are based on data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. The analytic sample included parents of children with developmental disabilities (n = 145) or mental health problems (n = 200) and 2,432 parents of unaffected children.