English

Aim The aims of this project were to implement guidance that sought to involve carers of older people in decision-making processes, and to promote practice development through work-based learning.

The present survey aimed to describe and compare the main needs and problems experienced by informal caregivers of Black Caribbean and White native-born patients in their last year of life. Out of the 106 Black Caribbean and 110 White patients identified as dying during the survey period, 50 interviews per ethnic group were conducted, a response rate of 47% and 45%. Out of these, 31 respondents representing Black Caribbean and 28 representing White dependants said that they bore the brunt of caregiving.

Objectives: To explore the experiences of people involved in UK palliative care day services (PCDS) and identify the important outcomes of this service. Methods: Focus groups were carried out separately with patients, informal carers and volunteers from four purposively selected palliative care day units and with day unit managers from 11 units. Results: Patients benefited from both the support of PCDS professionals and social support of fellow PCDS patients, which contributed to a perceived improvement in their quality of life.

Fifty caregivers and 41 heart failure patients participated in a study examining the association of caregiver characteristics and the caregiving environment on caregiver burden. Using a cross-sectional design, caregivers were interviewed face-to-face using a caregiver characteristic/demographic tool designed for this study, the Centers for Epidemiological Studies Short Depression Scale, the Caregiver Reaction Assessment questionnaire, and the New York Heart Association Functional Classification Guide to obtain the caregiver's perception of patient disease severity.

Purpose: Our objective in this analysis was to determine how the duration of caregiving interacts with key care demands (i.e., severity of problem behaviors) to influence the institutionalization of individuals suffering from dementia. Methods: We utilized multiregional data from 4,761 caregivers of individuals with dementia over a 3-year period. We conducted multinomial logistic and Cox proportional hazards analyses to determine the moderating effects of duration on behavior problems when institutionalization was predicted.

Suffolk's HSJ Award-nominated People Project aims to empower service users and carers. Participants attend workshops on subjects including getting heard. The project has secured a new round of funding to take it through to August 2006.

Our experience of partnership working on a Scottish project on service user and carer involvement in social work education has been a deeply politicising one. First-hand encounters with power enacted at various sites of service user and carer involvement across national, institutional and local university levels have demonstrated to us that 'partnership working that pushes at the orthodox structures of power is difficult' (Barnes et al., 2006, p. 434).

The Valuing People White Paper (Department of Health, 2001) requires services to secure a plan for all service-users with learning disabilities living with older carers and promises them and their families more choice and control over how and where they live. This paper examines the views of the older carers (aged over seventy) of sixty-two adults with a learning disability about planning for the future. Fifty-six took part in interviews in their own homes and six completed a questionnaire.

We evaluated a care-coordination project assisted by a screen-phone to support and educate caregivers. A total of 113 caregivers of home-dwelling veterans with dementia were recruited to the study: 72 were white, 32 were African American and nine were Hispanic. Caregivers were assessed for burden, depression, coping, quality of life, knowledge and satisfaction. None of the outcome measures changed significantly after twelve months. Forty care-recipient and caregiver dyads responded to the twelve-month telephone satisfaction survey.