Social care online

The title introduces care workers to dementia and aims to: Develop an understanding of the condition and how it affects the person; Explore myths and stereotypes and consider how these can influence the quality of care given; Introduce the person-centred qualities that a skilled carer would reflect in their day-to-day practice Show how person-centred values and modified techniques can improve carers’ ability to provide responsive and supportive dementia care.

Summarises the four Impact Assessments that analyse the impact, costs and benefits of implementing the policies set out in the care and support White Paper 'Caring for our Future: reforming care and support' and the draft 'Care and Support Bill'. This includes assessment of the Reform of the social care law and the analysis of its impact on local authorities and care users. The Impact Assessments at Annexes B to D cover the specific policies set out in the White Paper.

Participants from 25 reminiscence projects involving people with dementia and their carers across Europe are to gather in Germany in June. They will bring with them some colourful luggage: wall hangings, embroidered cushions and major art works. Catherine Ross finds out why.

The author argues that more people with learning disabilities and their carers would opt for individual budgets if they were given better support to make them work. Two short case studies are presented where parents explain how individual budgets have proved successful for their sons, each of who have complex learning disabilities.

Carers play an essential role in the lives of people suffering from mental health problems. Caring is very often a relational activity carried out by family members. Assertive Outreach (AO) services ought to be particularly well placed to support carers, but their impact upon families is not well understood. We set out to understand the intervention of AO services from a family perspective, and in particular to explore its meaning from the perspectives of pairs of carers. Three pairs of carer-parents participated in six individual open-ended interviews.

One hundred interviews were conducted with primary caregivers, with 63 held in the home of the caregiver and the remainder conducted in a location convenient to the caregiver. Each participant completed the Caregiver Well-Being Scale (CWB), the Caregiving Uplifts Scale (CUPL), the Caregiving Satisfaction Scale (CSS), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that sought to identify what works well in supporting older people to live in their own homes and local communities. Drawing on data from six focus groups conducted with key stakeholders, including older people, carers, care managers and direct service providers, the shortcomings of existing services to meet the needs of older people are recognised and the paper seeks to move discusion forward to what might help improve provision.

This article reports on findings from a qualitative study that explored the experiences of twenty-one gay men and lesbian women who care, or cared, for a person with dementia in England. The aim of the study was to explore how a person's gay or lesbian sexuality might impact upon their experience of providing care in this context. Analysis of the data identified a number of consistent themes—carers' experiences of the early signs and symptoms of dementia, of receiving the diagnosis, becoming a carer and their hopes and fears for the future in light of their care-giving experiences.

The DoH have released this document following their review of the CPA. The booklet is a guide for service users and cares on the Care Programme Approach.

To gather a range of perspectives on care and support and help identify priorities for the 'Caring for our future' White paper the government held an engagement exercise from September to December 2011. This included discussions with people who use care and support services, carers, local councils, care providers, and the voluntary sector.