Social support

Background: The well-being of informal carers of people with dementia is an important public health issue. Caring for an elderly relative with dementia may be burdensome and stressful, and can negatively affect the carer’s social, family, and professional life. The combination of loss, the physical demands of caregiving, prolonged distress, and biological vulnerabilities of older carers may compromise their physical health, increase social isolation, and increase the risk of anxiety and depressive disorders.

A common theme in the literature on care-giving is the issue of ‘hidden’ carers, that is, people who undertake caring roles and responsibilities, yet do not identify themselves as carers. One reason people do not recognise themselves as carers relates to the nature of the caring relationship. When providing care for a family member, intra-familial bonds of love and reciprocity do not encourage parties to view the relationship as anything other than a ‘normal’ familial relationship.

Despite calls for health and social services to respond to the needs of informal carers, there is little evidence to guide practioners in the best way to provide support and/or information in situations of complex need such as brain injury. This study addressed such an intervention in a prospective descriptive study, using both qualitative and quantitative methodology. Eighty-nine patients who had been admitted to a regional neurorehabilitation unit for management of traumatic or haemorrhagic brain injuries were consecutively discharged to the community over a period of 12 months.

Long-term care in the UK relies heavily on informal and unpaid carers. Statistical data regarding the number of carers in the 2001 Census compared with the 2011 Census identify an increase of around 600 000 carers. It is also significant that many of these carers are themselves in their late middle age. The reasons for taking on the caring role are varied, but there are significant potential physical, mental and financial issues associated with taking on the caring role. Positive benefits in terms of support provision for the carer do exist, but support services across the UK are variable.

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.

The Caring with Confidence scheme, launched in April 2009, is described. The scheme had been designed to improve support for carers in England over 18 by equipping them with skills to help them in their role. The scheme operates group sessions and online interactive sessions on subjects such as the emotions involved in caring for someone and how to develop coping strategies.

The author examines how a government-backed scheme is helping to give carers the skills to sustain them in their roles.

Seeks views on a new strategy for carers that will set out how more can be done to support them:

OBJECTIVES: To compare the burden of supporting demented and non-demented mentally infirm elders in an English community; determine the prevalence of emotional distress in carers and to investigate the relationship between carer well being and duration of care giving.

Over the last 30 years, the life expectancy of people with Down syndrome has increased dramatically. Significant medical advances have allowed affected persons to be seen more in the hospital setting, making it imperative that nurses understand their health care needs in order to provide positive health outcomes.