Wellbeing

Carers provide unpaid support to family or friends with physical or mental health problems. This support may be within the domain of activities of daily living, such as personal care, or providing additional emotional support. While research has explored the carer experience within the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, it has not focused specifically on carers of individuals with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Eight carers for those with a diagnosis of BPD were invited to take part in two focus groups.

Caring for a family member or friend can have major impacts on the personal life and wellbeing of carers. Identifying those who experience poor subjective wellbeing, factors that contribute to this, and ways in which services can be more effectively provided is essential in supporting carers in their role. This study surveyed carers from across New South Wales and found that carers of people with mental health issues reported poorer health and mental health themselves than any other group of carers, despite being more likely to access supportive services.

BACKGROUND: Primary research, including qualitative research, as well as experts working in social services and aged care have identified the mixed feelings carers experience when the person they have been caring for is admitted into a residential aged care facility permanently. They have raised the importance of understanding these experiences as a means to implementing policies and programs that enhance carers' well-being.

Providing informal care can be both a burden and a source of satisfaction. To understand the welfare effect on caregivers, we need an estimate of the ‘shadow value’ of informal care, an imputed value for the non-market activity. We use data from the 2006–2007 Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe which offers the needed details on 29,471 individuals in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Of these, 9768 are unpaid non-co-resident caregivers.

Woods and forests can enhance the psychological well-being with early stage dementia. In this article, the author reports on initial findings from a pilot programme of activities based in an urban woodland setting for people with early stage dementia. Activities included woodland walks, tree planting, nature photography, fire lighting and woodland cookery. Data were collected through observing the activities and interviewing the people with dementia, carers and staff at the end of the 10-week programme.

This resource is aimed at both care providers and carers focusing on the key messages from the dementia quality standard and explaining how each quality statement relates to each audience. It provides links to key resources, further information, and practical tools which are relative to carers and care providers as appropriate. Drawing on existing guidance, NICE quality standards describe the high priority areas for quality improvement using a set of specific, concise and measurable statements.