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A caregiver is an unpaid person, typically a family member or friend, who helps an ill person with the physical care and management of a disease. The task of care-giving results in additional responsibilities on the caregiver's daily life, and occupies the caregiver's time, energy, and attention, which is demanding and complex. The burden from care-giving, when prolonged, might affect the physical health of caregivers, causing symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, leading to a negative impact on their capacity for social engagement.

A SCIE Research briefing provides up-to-date information on a particular topic. It is a concise document summarising the knowledge base in a particular area and is intended as a 'launch pad’ or signpost to more in-depth investigation or enquiry. It is not a definitive statement of all evidence on a particular issue. The briefing is divided into the different types of knowledge relevant to health and social care research and practice, as defined by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).

Informal care remains the most important source of care for dependent older people, although there are strong country differences across Europe. Most informal carers are either of working age (mostly daughters or daughters-in-law) or older people themselves providing care to their dependent spouses. From the public budget perspective, informal care is often seen as a cost-effective way of providing care. This vision, however, fails to acknowledge the indirect costs of informal care, namely forgone employment or health for informal carers.

This briefing presents the findings of a survey that sought to find out more about how different local authorities collect and use information about their local carer populations: the range of information sources they use to form an evidence base on carers; how they use evidence to understand local need; and how evidence influences their planning and delivery of local carer support.

Key messages:

• Many older people see personal budgets as offering them more independence, as well as choice and control. The biggest concerns are managing the money and understanding what it can be spent on.

• Personal budgets can be held in several ways. Personal budget holders need clear information about what is involved – including risk and safety and help with assessment and planning. Knowledgeable staff are particularly important.

Since the community care reforms of the early 1990s, practical support for informal carers has become one of the key building blocks of community care policy in England and Wales. In 2004, Linda Pickard wrote a report for the Audit Commission called The Effectiveness and Cost-effectiveness of Support and Services for Informal Carers of Older People. This summary highlights the key points.

This paper summarises findings of a review of research evidence and current service provision of support of carers of people with mental health problems (Arksey et al., 2002). Research consisting of (i) a literature review and (ii) a consultation exercise was carried out between October 2001 and March 2002. The research was commissioned by the National Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation Research and Development (NCCSDO)

This small study, funded by the Sir Halley Stewart Trust, was designed to test out the effectiveness with Asian carers and value of newly translated versions (Gujarati and Urdu) of instruments previously used mainly with white English carers: Carers’ Assessment of Difficulties Index (CADI) and Carers’ Assessment of Satisfactions Index (CASI). It also aimed to use these measures to gain an improved understanding of how Asian carers perceived the difficulties and satisfactions of caring. The key findings were:

This updated briefing looks at benefit changes that can make it easier for service users and carers to get involved in paid participation for social care consultations and events. It includes details of changes to simplify the process secured through legislation in 2009 and further legislative changes in 2013 and 2014.