Editorial

Consistent with the long history within Psychology and Aging of publishing high impact articles on family caregiving, the current Special Section includes 5 articles that provide important advances, in knowledge and in methodological sophistication, to the study of cognitive difficulty, impairment and family caregiving. One study used daily diary data over 14 days to conduct microlongitudinal analyses of the prospective impact of everyday memory failures on negative affect and marital interactions in older couples.

The authors discuss the vocabulary used to describe caregivers, They mention the role of family caregiving in geriatric care, how the use of the word "informal" to describe this caregiving is inadequate for the work that is done, and efforts to change how family caregivers are described.

Pamela Larson reflects on her experience of becoming a carer for her husband.

Darling et al discusses the UK's Children and Families Act 2014, Section 96 which defines a young carer as a person under 18 who provides or intends to provide care for another person. A survey in 2018 asking 925 children in England to outline if they provide care, and to describe the care provided and to whom, reveals the extent of caring by children is much higher than previous estimates.

This editorial comments on the article: Demiris, G., Oliver, D.P., Washington, K. and Pike, K. (2019), A Problem‐Solving Intervention for Hospice Family Caregivers: A Randomized Clinical Trial. J Am Geriatr Soc, 67: 1345-1352. doi:10.1111/jgs.15894

Successful caregiver interventions accomplish two goals. One, they address the pragmatics of care provision by educating caregivers about the illness of the care recipient, associated symptoms and their progression, and available support services. Didactic training is often paired with skills training to address the needs of the care recipient, including how to assist with functional disabilities, mange problematic behaviors, and access professional support services.

This issue of Journal of Applied Gerontology includes an impressive collection of articles that highlight interventions, assess moderators, explore methodological approaches and emphasize the value of caregiver assessments, all within the context of supporting and empowering family caregivers. Recognition is growing of the sheer magnitude of caregivers (AARP Public Policy Institute estimates over 45 million) and the impact, both beneficial and challenging, of fulfilling this role.

In order to maintain an ethos of involvement and collaboration, there is a need for services and professionals to work with carers in ways that complement and enhance their roles so that they are able to maximize their capacity to care for their relative. 

The Recognize, Assist, Include Support and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act was signed into law on January 23, 2018. The bill is Public Law 115-119 (U.S. Congress) had bipartisan sponsorship by Maine Senator Susan Collins (R) who chairs the Senate Committee on Aging and Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) along with Mississippi Congressman Harper Gregg (R) and Florida Congresswoman Kathy Caster (D) on the House side (Eisenberg, 2018).

This editorial discusses the availability of resources to support carers and recommends a better focus on family-centred care.