Long term conditions

NSW is Australia's most populous state, with 7.7 million people (about a third of the Australian population). There are 905,000 carers in NSW. Carers provide ongoing unpaid support to people who need it because of their disability, chronic illness, mental ill-health, dementia or frail age.

The experiences of young adult carers (YACs) have been vastly under-researched, particularly within Australian caregiving literature. This article explores the existence, extent and nature of informal young adult caregiving in Australia, defining YACs as individuals aged between 18 and 25 years who provide unpaid care or support to family members living with chronic illness or disability.

Nurse-led case management programmes have become increasingly popular over the last 15 years. Countries such as the USA, Canada, Sweden and the Netherlands have long running case management programmes in place for frail elderly people. The Department of Health in England has recently introduced a 'community matron' role to provide case management to patients with highly complex long-term conditions; a group that is predominantly comprised of elderly people.

This study examines the relationship between caregiver characteristics and caregiver well-being as comprised of two components, activities of living and basic needs. The role of depression in predicting caregiver well-being is explored using a sample of caregivers of family members with chronic illness. Using a path-analysis model, multivariate findings suggest that depression explains 56% of the variance in activities of living and 64% in basic needs. Path analysis further identifies depression as a mediator between stress and well-being.

An evaluation exploring the lives of older people living with multiple long term conditions, assessing how well the health and care system is meeting their needs. The evaluation heard the views of 36 patients, family members and carers in order to gain an insight into their experiences of living with and managing their long term conditions and the care they receive.

Drawing on the case of a women who was brain injured following a traffic accident being cared for by her husband, this article highlights why it is important that social workers listen to carers when assessing caring situations. Carers need social workers who can listen to them and can learn from them.