England

The article reports that nine-year old Chelsea Nye got a free cookery lesson from Ashley Palmer Watts, head chef of the Fat Duck restaurant in London, England. It notes that the chef was so impressed by a cookbook made by young carers at charity Jigsaw4u that he offered them the chance to hone their skills. It cites that Watts and the children cooked a three-course meal at the event in Mitcham, Surrey, England, organised by the charity.

Senior health figures, including Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, and Norman Lamb, the minister for care, met teenage carers in an event at the London Zoo.

Aims. This study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding of the process of hospital discharge experienced by the carers of patients ‘at risk’ of unsuccessful discharge from medical wards in three hospitals in the North of England.

Informal carers provide important emotional support to patients having chemotherapy and assistance in monitoring and managing side-effects. If they are inadequately supported in this, patient and carer morbidity may result. This study explored needs of informal carers supporting patients with cancer having chemotherapy. The study used a mixed methods approach. Carers of colorectal or lymphoma cancer patients at one comprehensive cancer centre participated. Questionnaire data informed semi-structured interviews conducted with a subsample of respondents.

Carers and people with disabilities are two disadvantaged groups at risk of social exclusion. Work is an important route to social inclusion, but carers and people with disabilities are under-represented in the work force. The present paper reports key findings from a new study that evaluated People into Employment (PIE), a pilot employment project in the north-east of England designed to support people with disabilities, carers and former carers in gaining mainstream work.

This article investigates the prevalence of unpaid caregiving by local authority district in England and Wales, using data from a new question on caregiving in the 2001 Census. We also examine geographic variation in the characteristics of unpaid care providers including health status, socio-economic status and ethnicity. Results show clear geographic variations in caregiving. The proportion of adults providing more than 20 hours of care per week ranged from less than 2 per cent to nearly 8 per cent.

Carers play an ambiguous role within the personalisation paradigm currently shaping adult social care practice in England. Although carers have rights to assessments and support in their own right, these rights sit uneasily alongside the practices of assessment, support planning and personal budget (PB) allocation for older and disabled people. This paper reports how 14 dyads of older and learning disabled people with cognitive and/or communication impairments and their carers viewed the roles - desired and actual - played by carers in PBs.

This paper seeks to explore the impact of social and cultural factors upon perceptions of the patients’ cardiovascular risk and intended lifestyle changes. Qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used. The sample was purposeful; matched groups of 10 first time post myocardial infarction (MI) patients, 10 informal (spouse, blood relative or partner) and 10 formal carers (nursing staff) were selected on a convenience basis. Personal interviews were conducted with participants, during which a semistructured questionnaire was completed.

Aims: Expanding prevalence of diabetes has a major health impact on older people and the burden experienced by their informal carers. We report research which aimed to examine the burden on carers and highlight their input into diabetes care.; Methods: Of 98 diabetes patients aged over 59 years, 89 regularly received help with day-to-day activities or looking after from someone else and, of these, 83 carers consented to interview.

A PIONEERING NURSE is at the forefront of a programme to help improve the physical and mental health of young carers. The article focuses on Laura Ulyatt, a young carers' health nurse in Oxfordshire, England.