PRACTICE of medicine

Background: The recent policy of deinstitutionalization of health care in Western countries has resulted in a growing number of people - including elderly - with severe mental illness living in the community where they rely on families and others for support in daily living. Caregiving for partners, parents, children, and significant others can be a stressful experience and has been associated with psychosocial problems and poorer physical health. To support caregivers, a new, complex, nurse-led caregiver - centered intervention was developed.

It is more than 25 years since the critical dialogue on young carers was played out in the pages of this journal (see Morris and Keith, 1995; Aldridge and Becker, 1996). Since that time, research evidence has given us a clearer picture of the extent of young caring in the UK and its consequences for children and families, including two new national studies that focus on the prevalence and impact of young caring in England.