Social isolation

Objective: To test the feasibility (for a potential randomised controlled trial) of a computer intervention for improving social interaction and promoting the mental health of rural carers.

Design: The study combined pre- and post-intervention measures with interviews to determine the feasibility of the intervention and the acceptability of the study design to participants. The intervention consisted of providing 14 rural carers with computers and a 4-week training program on basic computer skills, using email and the Internet.

The article discusses the difficulties experienced by young carers and how to develop and strengthen their caregiver skills and experience. It says that young carers are children, adolescents, and younger members of the family below the age of 25 who has become the primary caregiver of the family and takes adult responsibilities in managing the family due to parental absence. It says that due to their young age, most young carers experience psychological and physical stress in their lives, social isolation from their peers, and educational delays.

Cases of carers harming or killing those they care for are few. But such rare occurrences should not blind us to the frustrations and isolation that drive many carers to believe they can no longer cope, writes the author. [Journal abstract]

This paper reports the findings of a literature review conducted to investigate user responses to assisted living technologies (ALTs), principally telehealth and telecare applications. A combination of search terms identified approximately 75 relevant publications, including reports of studies in the US, Australia, Europe and the UK. The documents were analysed to extract data relating to end-user needs, what attracts end users and informal carers to telehealth/telecare services, and what deters them from adopting these technologies.

The study's rationale: Most people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) choose to live at home without known consequences for their children.

Aims and objectives: To study the personal experience of being a young caregiver of a chronically ill parent diagnosed with MS.

Methodological design and justification: Phenomenology was the methodological approach of the study since it gives an inside information of the lived experience.

A major issue in research, policy and professional practice is the social exclusion of carers, in particular carers for people with mental health problems. In order to address the issue of social exclusion from the perspectives of professionals, 65 participants were interviewed. The sample included directors, managers and senior staff from the social care, health and voluntary sectors. Respondents were asked to comment at length on the social exclusion of carers.

This paper report on a study undertaken in Glasgow of young South Asian people with learning disabilities and their carers, and explores the extent to which they are socially excluded. Although there is an increasing political emphasis on the inclusion of people with learning disabilities, the families concerned continue to experience isolation, both socially and in terms of service provision. Access to service is often problematic, because of linguistic and cultural barriers and families appear to be reluctant to use day centres.

Background  As part of a UK programme of work focusing on older people with intellectual disabilities, the circumstance of those who reside in generic services for older people were investigated.

Materials and methods  Questionnaires were sent to 2570 residential and nursing homes in 53 local authorities across the UK.

Schools play an important part in the lives of children and young people who have caring responsibilities for a family member with an illness, disability, alcohol or other drug problem or mental health condition but many of these ‘young carers’ report difficulty in attending, achieving and participating in education. This qualitative research project aimed to gather young carers' views about school, the challenges they face in engaging with education and their peers, and ways that the system might better support others like them.

Severe lung disease is known to affect the lives of not only the sufferer but also his/her family. This qualitative phenomenological study identified seven patients with severe lung disease and studied the quality of life of their carers (five female, two male) who were not fully employed, living in the same house or nearby. In a semistructured interview, the carers were asked about looking after their spouse or relative, whether they had support and the effect of caring on their health and finances.