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This paper intends to reflect on some of the predominant traits of caring for older vulnerable people in Portugal, where the most common care model is a mix of informal home-based provision and support from the public and private sectors. We shall address some issues concerning the risks and limits of informal caretaking of older dependent people based on a case study of a woman who has to fulfil multiple roles, pushing her to the limit of her ability to cope.

Solidarity and equal access are twin principles in the Dutch health care system: solidarity between the rich and poor and among people with high and low risks formally guarantees equal access to health care services. However, in the past few years government policies, guided by the ideology of market reform and free choice, have resulted in patterns of inequality that favour privately insured over sickness fund insured. In the meantime, the level of public support for the principles of solidarity and equal access is dropping.

This study aimed to (1) examine relations between youth adjustment and three sets of predictors: parental illness/disability characteristics, caregiving, and parent–child attachment, and (2) explore differences on these variables between youths of parental physical illness/disability and youths of parental mental illness.

Closer relationships between caregivers and care recipients with dementia are associated with positive outcomes for care recipients, but it is unclear if closeness is a risk or protective factor for the health and psychological well-being of caregivers. We examined 234 care dyads from the population-based Cache County Dementia Progression Study. Caregivers included spouses (49%) and adult offspring (51%). Care recipients mostly had dementia of the Alzheimer's type (62%).

Without the contribution of informal carers of disabled, sick & older people, organised social care in England & Wales could not cope. However, carers can often experience financial hardship, poor health & social isolation, & may find it difficult to combine work & care. The government has developed policies to support carers in their caring role, while also introducing measures to assist carers to work, reflecting the emphasis on paid work as a driving force to reduce poverty.

For the past 15 years a central theme of government health-care policy has been to encourage the health service to change the way it relates to those who use it. Recent health policy documents such as Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change (Scottish Executive, 2000) emphasise a more integrated way of working that reflects co-operative partnerships.

Objectives: Elderly patients are increasingly receiving care in their own homes but this process is not well supported by existing systems which suffer from limited integration of health and social care services. The result is fragmentation of care, lack of coordination between services, duplication of services, and limited participation of patients and informal carers in the care process. In this study we attempt to identify the key intersection points, i.e.

Models depicting the strain and burden that caregivers experience are well known. But none of the models include nutrition, despite its importance to health. About 20 percent of caregivers report changes of appetite and weight. In this article, the author explores nutritional status and its relationship to the experience of caregivers—and their care recipients.