Interpersonal relations

It is widely accepted that cancer is an intersubjective experience that impacts upon the psychological well-being of people with cancer and informal carers, as well as on couple relationships. This qualitative study examined the nature and consequences of cancer on the relationship between informal carers and the person with cancer, from the perspective of Australian cancer carers. Sixty-two carers (42 women and 20 men), across a range of cancer types, stages and relationship dyads took part in semi-structured interviews.

Older people experiencing dementia are twice as likely to fall with consequences of serious injury, reduction in everyday activity, admission to long-term care and mortality. Carers of people with dementia are themselves at greater risk of physical and mental ill health, which increases as the dementia progresses. Unsurprisingly, carer burden also increases when a care-recipient falls. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of falling of community-living older people with dementia and their carers.

Aim To investigate the impact of caring for a parent on the psychosocial development of the young person. Methods A total of 20 young carers and 20 non-caregiving peers, aged 11-18 years, were compared on self-report measures of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and behavioural strengths and difficulties. Parental reports on their child's behaviour were obtained and measured. Results Young carers reported lower life satisfaction and self-esteem compared with non-caregiving peers, and their parents rated them as having more difficulties with peer relationships and more emotional symptoms.

Caring for people with dementia is complex and demanding, and informal carers carry out much of the care. In this article, Madeline Armstrong outlines the different types of dementia and discusses the psychological approaches to care. Informal carers experience many stressors when caring for people with dementia and Admiral nurses play an important role in supporting carers.

Aims and objectives: This paper presents a theory explaining the processes used by informal carers of people with dementia to mange alterations to their, and people with dementias' relationships with and places within their social worlds.

Background Because of an increase in life expectancy and de-institutionalisation, many adults with intellectual disability (ID) live with and are cared for by their parents throughout their adult lives. Because of caring demands, the quality of life (QOL) of parents may be affected. The study explored the impact of caring for an adult with ID on the QOL of parents. Methods Participants were 12 parents who were the full-time carers of an adult with ID. Participants were interviewed about the effect of caring on their QOL.

The aim of this paper was to gain an in-depth understanding of the way the lives of individuals supporting someone diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a severe, recurrent and chronic mental disorder that has a significant impact on the lives of those who experience it and the people supporting them. It is often the subsyndromal symptoms that cause major impairment in functioning and can have financial, social, interpersonal and health impacts for carers. A qualitative thematic analysis was chosen to enable an in-depth exploration of participants' experiences.

BACKGROUND: The international literature consistently shows that the psychosocial outcomes of the informal carers (caregivers) of chronically ill patients are influenced by factors such as personality traits and perceived social support, but few studies have investigated these variables in the caregivers of hemodialysed patients, and the reciprocal experience of chronicity.; METHODS: Fifty hemodialysed patients and their principal caregivers were recruited.

The purpose of this Grounded Theory based study was to add to the limited understanding about the perception and observation of pain by the formal and informal carers of people with dementia. Thirty-one carers talked about how they know when their person with dementia has pain. Findings showed there is no one set of signs or behaviours that indicate pain in all people with dementia. However, a common pain assessment process amongst carers involved being able to detect deviation from normal behaviours based upon their intimate knowledge of what is normal for their person.

Aim: To investigate the gains experienced by family caregivers of persons with dementia. Methods: Twelve respondents were recruited using purposive sampling from three institutions around Singapore. A qualitative design, guided by the grounded theory approach, was adopted and involved semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using open, axial and selective coding. Results: All caregivers interviewed reported having gained from caregiving.