Workforce

Since the early 1990s, UK social care policy has committed to supporting carers. Legislation (England and Wales) over this time period has recognised the importance of separate carer assessments that take into account an individual's ability and willingness to care. This paper considers carer assessment from the perspective of social care practitioners. It reports on qualitative data from a carer research programme that spans over 20 years (1993 to present) and includes 383 in-depth interviews with social care practitioners across England and Wales.

Purpose – Through consultation with people living with dementia and carers, this paper aims to identify skills that patients and carers feel need to be developed in the workforce. This work is part of a project to develop competencies for the West Midlands dementia workforce.

Based on two years of fieldwork, conducted between March 2003 and March 2005 in the health care industry of the northeastern United States, this study shows that the work of family caregivers of elders goes far beyond previously recognized care in the home to acknowledge care inside health care facilities and in conjunction with community services.

Carers can be defined as someone who ‘spends a significant proportion of their life providing unpaid support to family or potentially friends. This could be caring for a relative, partner or friend who is ill , frail , disabled or has mental health or substance misuse problems.1 Such carers are not to be confused with paid carers (often described as Care workers, Senior care workers, community support, outreach workers and personal assistants). However, those employed in such roles may also be carers in their own time for friends or family.