Cavaye, Joyce

In the United Kingdom, policy has formalized the role of carers through the introduction of new rights and entitlements to support. However, this support is directed only at current carers with the needs of former carers being unacknowledged. Yet, when caregiving comes to an end, the transition to a life as a “former” carer can be challenging. This article reports findings from a small-scale qualitative study about the experiences of former carers conducted in the United Kingdom.

This paper will focus on the experiences of former carers; individuals who were previously unpaid carers of older people but for whom caregiving has ceased. Caring has been conceptualised as a ‘career’ that is characterised by key events, one of which is the end of caregiving and the transition into the post-caring period. Few temporal models of care include the post-caring period, yet this stage is an integral part of former carers’ experiences. It is estimated that approximately 2 million people each year in the UK, become former carers.

Informal carers provide the majority of care for older people living in the community. The provision of care can be very stressful and is said to have an adverse effect on caregivers health. policy has recognised the need to support carers and a key objective has been to improve service provision for them. research has shown that service intervention can prevent the breakdown of care and admission to long term care. However, relatively few carers and older people use formal services. While the low uptake of services is documented it is not fully understood.