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This article is an illustration of Indian families as caregivers who are direct sufferers due to family members affected by mental illness such as schizophrenia, and other psychiatric disorders. The practical aspects involved in the caregiving role of Indian families make them inevitable partners in care besides projecting a unique model to the other family support groups across the world. The discussion on barriers and gateways to the partnerships role of family provides an insight into the cultural dynamics of care in a country like India.

Analysis of the 2001 UK census found that 114,000 children aged five to 15 acted as informal carers for an adult with a chronic illness; 5,000 of them provided more than 50 hours of care each week. Concern has been rising for some years about the health and social consequences of being a young carer…

Informal carers save the state's health and social care services billions of pounds each year. The stresses associated with caring have given rise to a number of short-term care services to provide respite to carers. The Carers (Recognition & Services) Act of 1995 identified formally for the first time, the important role that unpaid carers provide across the community in Britain.

Provides a commentary on research outcomes in the field of elder abuse and challenges assumptions about older people, carers, vulnerability and risk.

Introduction: An aging population is fueling interest in assisted living technologies (ALTs) to support independence at home. Numerous ALTs have been developed and deployed, but uptake and use has fallen short of levels predicted by policymakers. A key reason is a lack of understanding of users’ needs. In this paper we report findings from the ATHENE (Assistive Technologies for Healthy Living in Elders: Needs Assessment by Ethnography) project, which is funded by the Technology Strategy Board under its Assisted Living Innovation Platform programme.

Aims: Chronic heart failure (CHF) due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction is associated with poor quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to assess factors affecting health-related QoL in CHF patients and their carers and the impact of QoL on clinical outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the factors that affect the burden of care for primary caregivers of older people during the transition period after discharge from the hospital to home.

METHODS: Using convenience sampling, 95 older patients who had been hospitalized for a hip fracture and their primary caregivers were enrolled. Data pertaining to the burden experienced by the caregivers were collected 1 week and 1 month after discharge from the hospital.

Since the early 1990s, UK social care policy has committed to supporting carers. Legislation (England and Wales) over this time period has recognised the importance of separate carer assessments that take into account an individual's ability and willingness to care. This paper considers carer assessment from the perspective of social care practitioners. It reports on qualitative data from a carer research programme that spans over 20 years (1993 to present) and includes 383 in-depth interviews with social care practitioners across England and Wales.

Integrated care pathways (ICPs) are prearranged processes of care that are being increasingly used to deliver mental health services. The literature to date reveals relatively little about service user and carer experience in relation to their use. This study was completed as part of case study research and focused on the experiences of service users and carers gathered using focus groups, as a unit of analysis.

Successive government policies have highlighted the need to inform and involve carers fully in the hospital discharge process. However, some research suggests that many carers feel insufficiently involved and unsupported in this process.