Jour

As populations age, the numbers of carers overall and numbers of carers from minority ethnic groups in particular are rising. Evidence suggests that carers from all sections of the community and particularly carers from minority groups often fail to access care services. This may relate to barriers in accessing services and service dissatisfaction. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and summarise minority ethnic carers' perceptions of barriers to accessing community social care services and their satisfaction with these services if accessed.

The purpose of this paper is to report on research in progress. The research is being undertaken by the Sacred Heart Palliative Care Community Service (SHPCCS) multidisciplinary team on information and communication issues for carers of palliative care patients and patients without carers. The aim of the study is to explore the information needs of informal carers and patients without carers. A mixed methods, mixed methodology within a case study design has been use to conduct the study and the progress thus far has highlighted a number of challenges for the team.

Including informal care in economic evaluations is increasingly advocated but problematic. We investigated three well-known concerns regarding contingent valuation (CV): (1) the item non-response of CV values, (2) the sensitivity of CV values to the individual circumstances of caring, and (3) the choice of valuation method by comparing willingness-to-pay (WTP) and willingness-to-accept (WTA) values for a hypothetical marginal change in hours of informal care currently provided.

As the aging population increases, the demand for informal caregiving is becoming an ever more important concern for researchers and policy-makers alike. To shed light on the implications of informal caregiving, this paper reviews current research on its impact on three areas of caregivers’ lives: employment, health, and family. Because the literature is inherently interdisciplinary, the research designs, sampling procedures, and statistical methods used are heterogeneous.

Unpaid, informal carers play a vital role in supporting people with long-term conditions. Being a carer can be challenging and carers may need support but they frequently fail to access it. Compared to research investigating the experiences of female carers, research with male carers is underdeveloped. The available evidence suggests male and female carers have many experiences in common but some research suggests that compared to females, male carers are even less likely to access services.

Government policy has directed local services to address the needs of carers as a way of maintaining care in the community. This study was initiated to enable carers to develop an information pack based upon their identified needs. Cooperative inquiry was the method used to ensure full participation of the carers. Group meetings were already in existence through a charity organization who provides a carers support network. The first author participated in a number of carers group meetings.

This study reports research on the experiences of stroke survivors and their informal carers who are receiving stroke services in the community. As part of a qualitative evaluation of a Pilot Community Stroke Service in Nottingham, England, interviews were conducted with stroke survivors, their families and friends, alongside interviews with the managers and professionals providing the service.

Several studies have shown that the combined community-based Meeting Centres Support Programme (MCSP) for people with mild to moderate dementia and their carers were more effective in reducing behavior and mood problems of people with dementia than traditional nursing home-based (NH) day care. We therefore investigated in this study whether community-based (CO) psychogeriatric day care for people with mild to severe dementia combined with carer support (in accordance with the MCSP), is more effective than regular NH day care.

The new white paper in England is an opportunity for services to stop and think about their relationship with families. This article looks specifically at the situation of older family carers and why services often fail to 'make sense' to them. It shows that these families often do not get the support they need, leaving them in great anxiety about the future. Examples are given of practical initiatives that have worked successfully with older families.