Social care online

Oral and written evidence presented to the Health Committee inquiry into the issues facing the future of social care, focusing on people aged 65 and older. A list of witnesses is also provided. The Committee looked at how a fully integrated system could be achieved with more efficient use of resources and the improved outcomes that it could deliver. Other issues discussed in volume 1 (the full report) are commissioning, the funding and staffing integrated services, the needs of carers, and the Dilnot Commission.

The provision of care within families, and specifically the difficulties within such relationships, has become the focus of much research, legislation and debate in recent years. This paper explores carers' and carees' talk about 'stress', home-based care. Carers' and carees' accounts are presented to theorise the construction of difficulties in the present relationship--focusing in particular on the taking up of or resistance to roles and responsibilities within the family.

This study investigated the factors contributing to psychological distress and positive affect over time in female working carers of older people. Questionnaires (including measures of work-related, care-related, interpersonal and psychological aspects of working and caring) were distributed to 275 female working carers in the UK, the majority of whom were working as nurses in the National Health Service. In cross-sectional analyses, higher work stress and work demands predicted higher psychological distress among respondents.

While many people with dementia require institutional care, having a co-resident carer improves the likelihood that people can live at home. Although caregiving can have positive aspects, carers still report a high need for respite. Despite this need, the use of respite services for carers of people with dementia is often low. This article investigates carer beliefs regarding out-of-home respite services and why some carers do not utilise them.

Background: The neuropsychiatric complications of Parkinson's disease (PD), which include behaviour disturbances such as apathy and the impulse control disorders (ICDs), may have a significant effect on patients with PD and their carers. The contribution of these behaviour disorders to carer burden is less understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the relationship that apathy and ICDs have with carer burden.

The objective of this study was to explore awareness, recognition and understanding of dementia symptoms in families of South Asian and African/Caribbean descent in the UK. In-depth, semistructured interviews were carried out with South Asian and African/Caribbean carers. Interview transcripts were analysed by coding the data into themes and investigating links between them, using the constant comparison approach of grounded theory. Thirty carers of a person with dementia of South Asian and African/Caribbean heritage were interviewed.

In Bath and North East Somerset, Dementia Support Workers help people with dementia and their carers to live well by providing personalised support and advice. The video describes the benefits of what they do and how their work integrates with other local services.

As populations age, the numbers of carers overall and numbers of carers from minority ethnic groups in particular are rising. Evidence suggests that carers from all sections of the community and particularly carers from minority groups often fail to access care services. This may relate to barriers in accessing services and service dissatisfaction. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and summarise minority ethnic carers' perceptions of barriers to accessing community social care services and their satisfaction with these services if accessed.

The purpose of this Statistics Release is to present the latest national figures for home care services provided or purchased by local authorities in Scotland. All local authorities in Scotland provide Home Care services which give people the support, practical help and personal care that they need to live as independently as possible in the community.

Original document (pdf) on Scottish Government website.