carers

This paper describes a three‐phase study to investigate the experience and management of menstruation for women with learning disabilities. It focuses on the findings of the second phase of the study, which looked at the experiences of carers and health professionals. It describes the difficult issues that can arise when providing assistance around menstruation. The findings are discussed in relation to ideologies and sensitivities that exist around gender, sexuality and menstruation.

This paper describes a series of practice and service development initiatives to incorporate the family-inclusive approach into the newly established Early Intervention in Psychosis Service in Berkshire, England. Following a local study on carers' experiences and needs from those who cared for a young adult with a first-episode psychosis (FEP), a series of flexible services for this group of carers has been developed incorporating the much-researched psycho-educational family interventions.

This review focuses upon women aged 45-60: an under-researched subgroup of the adult female population. Women in mid-life occupy a unique position in the lifespan at the intersection of a number of age-related and lifelong pathways. The lives of these women can be distinguished from those of both older and younger women along a number of important dimensions including their family and working lives, economic situation, general health, and the complexity of their roles both inside and outside the home.

Drawing on recent quantitative and qualitative research, we consider lessons of the Scottish policy of free personal care for older people. The policy is embedded in political debates about devolution and interacts with various changing policies on care and support for older people. Evaluation is complicated by these interactions and by gaps in relevant data, especially concerning costs. Operationally, policy implementation has presented varying difficulties for local authorities.

Background : Carers of people with a severe mental illness often experience health and social problems themselves. In the UK, carers now have a statutory right to an assessment of their needs. Aim : to develop a brief instrument to identify and measure the experience of those caring for people with a severe mental illness across the range of domains that the carers themselves consider important. Method : potential domains were identified from published and 'grey' literature and refined through consultation with carers.

Presents an overview of recent measures to support carers.

Overall life expectancy for women with intellectual disabilities (ID) is now significantly extended, and many will live long enough to experience menopause. Little is known about how carers support women with ID through this important stage in their lives. This study investigated carer knowledge of how menopause affects women with ID under their care and how they may help them to cope with it.

Researchers have identified the needs of family members of critically ill adults, explored their experiences, and investigated interventions. To address a gap in the theoretical knowledge about how nurses help these individual, the authors developed a grounded theory of nursing support from the perspective of family members. Results indicated that family members were initiated into a cycle of Work to meet perceived responsibilities to Get Through the experience.

Describes the Abhay Partnership Project to deliver advocacy services for South Asian elders and their informal elder carers in west London. It also aims to change and improve how the 6 consortium partners, 3 host agencies and 9 community centres design and deliver services to such people.

Few researchers have explored family carers’ perspectives of smoking by their family members with mental illness, despite smoking rates remaining high for people with mental illness. In-depth qualitative interviews with twelve South Australian family carers explored their experiences and views of providing care for people with mental illness who smoke. Data were analysed thematically. Around the central theme of the caring role within the context of mental illness and smoking, were three interrelated themes: (1) responsibility; (2) accommodation; and, (3) dissonance.