Mgzn

Looks at how the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act will improve the lives of the UK's six million carers.

The Caring with Confidence scheme, launched in April 2009, is described. The scheme had been designed to improve support for carers in England over 18 by equipping them with skills to help them in their role. The scheme operates group sessions and online interactive sessions on subjects such as the emotions involved in caring for someone and how to develop coping strategies.

The author examines how a government-backed scheme is helping to give carers the skills to sustain them in their roles.

Shared Lives schemes are increasingly being used to support people with dementia and they are providing cheaper than alternative forms of help, reports Natlie Valios. 

Carers play a central role in many healthcare users' lives. Although services are recognising that they must be valued and supported, there is much more to be done to ensure this unpaid workforce's wellbeing, reports Jennifer Taylor. 

Drawing on the case of a women who was brain injured following a traffic accident being cared for by her husband, this article highlights why it is important that social workers listen to carers when assessing caring situations. Carers need social workers who can listen to them and can learn from them.

Ask the experts is a forum in which consultant nurses working with older people debate an issue in older people's care and offer advice. This month, Soline Jerram, consultant nurse: older people and intermediate care, from Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead PCT, poses questions brought to her by intermediate care staff and informal carers.

School nurses should be 'champions' for young carers and support them in times of crisis, according to new government guidance.

Respite breaks can play an important role in reducing the stress on carers and giving them time to re-energise themselves. Philippa Hare looks at recent research that highlights the secret of a good break. 

The article reports that Andrew Dilnot, chairman of the Commission on Funding of Care and Support, has ruled out having free personal care in England. He states that free personal care will not be recommended by the commission as it will not be resilient enough if implemented. He mentions that the commission will put forward the suggestion of having partnership approach which would combine resources from state, informal carers and individuals.

A blow to spending on social services threatens a deterioration in quality of life for carers and users, but a new grant could protect this vulnerable group and ease some of the pressures on the NHS. [Journal abstract]