families

This article reports on findings from a qualitative study that explored the experiences of twenty-one gay men and lesbian women who care, or cared, for a person with dementia in England. The aim of the study was to explore how a person's gay or lesbian sexuality might impact upon their experience of providing care in this context. Analysis of the data identified a number of consistent themes—carers' experiences of the early signs and symptoms of dementia, of receiving the diagnosis, becoming a carer and their hopes and fears for the future in light of their care-giving experiences.

This paper reports key findings from a study of young people’s engagement in ‘atypical’ activities in their families. The project focused on young caring and language brokering as two roles that are not assumed to be ‘normal’ activities for children and young people. The findings presented are from a survey of 1002 young people and from one‐to‐one interviews with a sample selected from the survey sample. The voices of young people in the interview study are used in the paper to illustrate the diverse range of childhood experiences.

In 2009, The Social Care Institute for Excellence introduced guidelines for practitioners to support families in which parents have mental health problems. Here, SCIE presents a case study demonstrating how the guidance could be successfully applied. 

This article focuses on a 2007 survey by "Community Care" which found that almost half of young carers will spend a number of hours caring for another member of their family on Christmas Day. Forty-six per cent of young carers have not talked to a social worker in the last year about the support they need, according to the survey of 109 young carers aged eight-16 in Great Britain. The survey also revealed reluctance among young carers to want more professional support.

There has been limited research on the attitudes of family carers and the part they play in helping people with a learning disability choose accommodation. A postal questionnaire was sent to family carers of people with Down's Syndrome, to identify their attitudes to supported living, their experience of the application process, and the support they provided to residents. It was found that main family carers of people with Down's Syndrome in supported living were generally satisfied with the housing and support provided, particularly with respect to activities of daily living.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experience of caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s disease or related disorder (ADRD) living at home among a diverse sample of 103 family caregivers. The study involved secondary analysis of in-depth transcribed interview data using van Kaam’s rigorous four phase, 12-step psychophenomenological method. A total of 2,115 descriptive expressions were categorized into 38 preliminary structural elements. Eight essential structural elements emerged from an analysis of the preliminary structural elements.

Shared Lives schemes are increasingly being used to support people with dementia and they are providing cheaper than alternative forms of help, reports Natlie Valios. 

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 scoping review addressed the following questions: (a) What types of caregiver interventions are being done in both aging and developmental disability research? (b) How are these interventions similar and different? (c) What kinds of outcomes do these interventions have? (d) What innovative approaches are these interventions using? and (e) What can each field (developmental disabilities and gerontology) learn from the other based on this review?