Carers in the community: the nature, extent and needs of informal care provision within the Western Health Board

Many individuals provide care for people who would otherwise require core from health professionals. The need for 'informal carers' to support health services is likely to increase due to changing socio-demographic trends. However, little is known about the nature and extent of informal core and the needs of carers and those receiving care. The objectives of the study were to assess the psychosocial impact of coring and being cared for, determine the extent of care giving and assess needs and current levels of support.A representative sample of 531 households across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon was selected. Interviewers administered up to three surveys, depending on household composition (carers, those receiving care, non-carers). Eighteen per cent of the population were defined as corers. This equates to more than 19,000 corers throughout the region. The majority of those receiving care were older people. Many carers devoted all their time to their caring role and were on-call 24 hours a day to help the person [...]