English

This article reviews current policies and their impact on carers' lives, and highlights the potential limitations of a more personalised approach to care. Using some key research findings and illustrative case studies, the article argues that we should build on the achievements of the personalisation reforms, but not limit our ambition to offering individuals more choice and control over their services. Instead, there should be a focus on individuals achieving ordinary life chances and families achieving emotional and financial sustainability.

This study examined caregiver perceptions of mental health problems and counseling needs in low-income children with special health care needs (CSHCN). Interviewers collected data from 257 caregivers of CSHCN (61% males; 60% African American; Mean age = 8.4 years) attending six Midwestern inner-city health clinics. Measures included the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and an investigator-designed questionnaire. CBCL T-scores indicated that 38% of CSHCN had a behavioral or mental health problem, but only 26% of caregivers perceived the need for treatment or counseling.

The influence of substance use on patient's needs and caregiving consequences has received insufficient research attention. We sought to determine whether patients with comorbid substance use have higher levels of need, anxiety, depression, and caregiving consequences than those of patients who do not use substances. A total of 520 patients participated, and those who used substances (n = 216) reported higher levels of unmet needs, anxiety, and caregiving consequences than did patients who did not use substances.

Much of the literature on informal carers of cancer patients is quantitative and psycho-oncology based. This literature has established that cancer carers experience higher rates of stress, depression and anxiety than their non-caregiving counterparts, with younger female carers reporting higher rates of burden and unmet needs. The reasons behind this variation and variations in support preferences are poorly understood: some carers prefer support groups and others prefer practical support. This study takes a sociological approach to exploring carers' varied experiences.

This article investigates care provided to parents and parents-in-law by mid-life adults with dependent children at home. Data from the General Household Survey are used first to estimate the prevalence of this 'two-way' care over the past decade, and second to develop forecasts of two-way care for a generation of women who have just finished their childbearing years. Having a higher education qualification is associated with later ages both of caring for parents and of having children at home.

This article presents an adaptation of the Family Management Style Framework (FMSF)—a well-established framework of family response to chronic condition care of children—to families caring for older adults with dementia. Using the FMSF to better understand how families manage dementia care can provide clinicians with insights on how to work effectively with families.

Rampant levels of AIDS and poverty have made many children in sub-Saharan Africa the primary caregivers of their ageing or ailing guardians. This paper reports on a social action fund initiative that brought caregiving children together to set-up and run income generating activities as a group with the aim of strengthening their coping capabilities.

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.

The purpose of our study was to identify the information and support needed by carers of the terminally ill or those receiving palliative care. Carers, in this instance, are family members, friends or neighbours. A review of the literature was sponsored by Help the Hospices’ four-year project, Care for the Carers of the Terminally Ill, funded by the Tubney Charitable Trust. The review was conducted in August 2006 and the content analysis was completed in October that year.