carers

I argue that it is appropriate for adult recipients of personal care to feel and express gratitude whenever care providers are inspired partly by benevolence, and deliver a real benefit in a manner that conveys respect for the recipient. My focus on gratitude is consistent with important aspects of feminist ethics of care, including its attention to the particularities and vulnerabilities of caregivers and care recipients, and its concern with how relations of care are shaped by social hierarchies and public institutions.

Commissioning mental health is a complex area and expertise is varied. This article explains 'Values based' commissioning, which aims to put users' views at the heart of reshaping services. Values based commissioning aims to take a fresh look at what kind of services should be commissioned and why, with service users and carers working jointly with commissioners to lead commissioning decisions.

User and carer participation in health care is central to care planning and delivery. From an educational perspective, their input is beneficial in terms of enhancing the quality of the education process. The study reported in this paper explored the experiences of user and carer participation in nurse education from the perspective of the key stakeholders involved in the process. By pinpointing key issues of concern for participants, the study aims to help inform the ongoing development of practice in this area.

This article comments on the current campaign by carers’ organizations for the title of carer to be used exclusively in connection with unpaid caring. This campaign is analysed in the context of recent developments in policies on unpaid caring and broader debates concerning recognition campaigns, identity and solidarity with others. It is argued that success for carers in terms of securing better benefits and services has been partial and limited and that there are problems in linking demands for recognition with demands for improved material conditions.

April 1st is often the date on which all or part of legislation or programmes are implemented. The author provides an overview of changes to look out for on 1 April 2005. Provides details on Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004, Carers' Grant, Children Act 2004, Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, Learning Disabilities Development Fund, Protection of title of social workers, and changes in the sentencing of offenders.

Several recent articles have pointed out that caregivers of patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) need counselling and support. To date, however, no support groups have been provided other than those available to caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). At our outpatient unit for cognitive disorders we initiated a specific support group for caregivers of patients with FTD.

AIMS: To explore intrusion and avoidance in family carers of dementia patients. METHOD: We studied 196 family carers of 196 home-dwelling dementia patients.

The safeguarding vulnerable groups bill aims to improve the system of checks on staff and volunteers who want to work in social care, health or education. However, it creates different levels of protection for children and vulnerable adults. This article sets out the concerns expressed by a small coalition of disability charities that argued for improvements to the bill during its passage through Parliament.

Health professionals such as nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists provide a wealth of support in the community to patients and their carers receiving palliative care. Moving and handling is one such support that needs careful consideration and assessment including risk, by appropriately qualified professionals. A combination of skills are required as well as knowledge of up to date equipment to assist the health professional in deciding how to formulate safe moving and handling interventions in a timely way.

In many cases the consumers of mental health information and support are the families of mental health sufferers. The aim of the project was to understand resilience in people who live with or support a family member with a diagnosed or undiagnosed mental illness. Participants were 15 carers (one male, 14 female). Semi-structured interviews were transcribed and analysed using content analysis. Eight recurring themes emerged which indicated the challenges the carers faced and provided indications of the positive and negative personal, family and social factors that impacted on their lives.