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Carers UK is calling for a social contract for care following research it launched last month. Evidence from reports – the Carers, Employment and Services series – shows the need for a radical shake-up to the way we support carers.

Carers have greater risk of ill health and unemployment according to the latest comprehensive research for Carers UK. Sue Yeandle outlines what reforms are needed. 

Health care for individuals with disability is increasingly shifting from institutional settings to the "community," with assistance by those in the formal sector. In this article, the authors examine 5 case studies illustrating interactions and relationships between people with disability and their caregivers, using qualitative data collected as part of a community study of disability conducted in a medium-sized city in the northeastern United States.

This paper describes the increased national focus on including families and carers in all aspects of mainstream mental health services. It proposes that the specific recommendations included in the National Service Framework for Mental Health be brought together in the form of a strategy to enhance working partnerships with families and carers. It advocates that the implementation of the NSF requires a comprehensive awareness and basic skills training in order that the consideration of families and carers becomes a routine part of mainstream services. 

Community services for carers of people with dementia can assist in relieving caregiver burden and delay the institutionalisation of the person with dementia. Under some conditions, however, engagement with dementia services may produce unintended negative consequences, resulting in increased confusion and a reduction of agency for carers.

Men and women in Great Britain are increasingly involved in a variety of economic and social roles, particularly during their mid-life period. This article examines the changes in role occupancy across four birth cohorts passing through mid-life over the period 1985-2000. Data from the General Household Survey is used to investigate the occupancy of four key roles: 'partner', 'parent', 'carer' and 'paid worker', analysing separate and multiple role occupancies and level of commitment to a particular role.

Day care, as a type of care in between residential care and home help, has been available for several years, and is often referred to as an adequate alternative form of care for people with dementia. The goals of Swedish day care are to create a meaningful day for participants, offer family caregivers respite, and provide care for persons with dementia. The aim of this Swedish study was to describe day care clients with dementia problems over a 12-month period, and to discuss what distinguished those who discontinued day care from those who stayed with it.

AIM: To compare the satisfaction levels of patients and carers with a community night nursing service. METHOD: Thirty seven patients and 23 carers completed satisfaction postal questionnaires. Respondents were further subdivided into acute, chronic and terminally ill patients and their carers. RESULTS: Satisfaction levels with the service were generally high, although respondents from the terminally ill group showed the lowest levels of satisfaction overall. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed that results between the groups were not significantly different.

This paper considers the significant unmet psychosocial needs of the informal carers of cancer patients, drawing on data generated in a 3-year UK study (1997–2000) on the psychosocial needs of cancer patients and their main carers. While the needs of the carers of cancer patients are increasingly being recognised in healthcare policy documents, there is relatively little published literature on these needs. A ‘significant unmet need’ is defined here as a need deemed important by the carer, but which has not been met.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the joint effects of bereavement and caregiver intervention on caregiver depressive symptoms.