carers

Researchers and practitioners in several Western countries have recently developed tools for assessing the situation of the carers of adults who are ill, elderly or have disabilities. The present article describes the impact of three such assessment tools, from Canada, the UK and Sweden, on the professional practice of assessors. All tools were tested in agency-based studies. Focus groups, workshops and interviews with assessors were employed to understand the impact on professionals and their practice.

The Health & Social Care (H&SC) Task Force, the membership of which is set out in annex B, was one of four such task forces established to develop proposals for measures to be included in the new Carers’ Strategy1 . This report comprises proposals developed by the group which were put to the Interdepartmental Group chaired by David Behan, Director-General Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships, Department of Health, which oversaw the development of the strategy as a whole. 

Diagnosis plays a significant role in the shaping of individual identities and the quality of life for people with learning difficulties and their family carers. Diagnostic labels are constitutive of peoples' lives, in that they bring forth pathology, create problemsaturated stories and construct careers as patients and cases. Disabled identities of people with learning difficulties remain largely ‘embodied’ and within the definitional control of professionals.

This briefing paper is about the findings and recommendations from a research project conducted at the University of Nottingham, with funding awarded by Macmillan Cancer Support. The project was set up to study the experiences and main support needs of older carers* looking after someone with advanced cancer and to facilitate the active involvement of carers in the research process.

This study analyses data from Statistics Canada's 1998 social survey of 10,749 people to learn more about the nature and situation of Canadian adults providing care at home to other adults. Data included time-use and respondents' sociodemographic, cultural, work, and leisure characteristics, as well as outcome factors. The analyses found 212 respondents (about 2 percent) providing personal, medical, or other care to other household adults on the day studied. Carers were compared to those not found to provide these services.

The National Black Carers and Carers Workers Network aims to ensure that the voices of carers from black and minority ethnic groups are heard. This article provides a brief overview of the work and main concerns of the Network.

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the barriers and enablers to working together in social care, focusing on the experiences of carers and practitioners.

In the first article of this new section, actuarial expert Robert Plumb looks in more depth at the topical issue of the future of long-term care.

Support for family carers is currently a policy priority in both health and social care. However, despite the launch of the Carers' National Strategy there is a need for further innovation if services are to be optimally effective. This article identifies a number of issues and challenges for the future if family carers are to receive the type and level of support they need. It highlights the need to think more clearly about the intended outcomes of services supporting carers and about the range and type of interventions that should be provided if such outcomes are to be achieved.

Commentary on research by Jarvis et al. about the needs and experiences of informal carers of older people, commenting on the research instruments used and interpretation of carers' responses. A response from the original authors is included. [(BNI unique abstract)]