The experience of caring for someone over 75 years of age: results from a Scottish General Practice population

Abstract

The study helps illuminate the less obvious, but important, emotional aspects of carers' difficulties and suggests strategies which service providers may find helpful in assessing carers' needs and determining the appropriate interventions.

Informal carers of older family members: how they manage and what support they receive from respite care

“…2001, Sawatzky & Fowller‐Kerry 2003, Salin & Åstedt‐Kurki 2005). Sharing a house seemed to be associated with emotionally more expressive ways of dealing with the situation (Jarvis et al. 2006), which confirm the results from this study, that informal carers who lived alone were more satisfied with their life.…”

“…It is possible that the respondents did not consider strategies of stress management important because respite care provided regular breaks from their caring duties anyway (cf. Jarvis et al. 2006).…”

Reactions to caregiving of frail, older persons predict depression

“…This is an important finding because the literature suggests more than 50% of caregivers of older people experience symptoms of depression (Lu et al 2007), particularly adult children (Coe & Van Houtven 2009). It is often the carer's reaction to, and consequences of, caregiving, rather than the actual practical tasks, that render their role challenging (Jarvis et al 2006). Therefore, understanding carers' reaction to caregiving and the relationship with depression could assist in identifying carers at risk of depressed mood and inform health-care professionals about appropriate support services.…”

Response

“…These largely invisible difficulties may not be considered by a professional when assessing the needs of either the care recipient or the unpaid carer. Secondly, the study aimed to explore the perceived needs of unpaid carers from a wider range of caregivers than often used in caregiver research (Jarvis & Worth 2005) using previously validated UK tools, the Carers Assessment of Difficulties, Carers Assessment of Managing and Carers Assessment of Satisfactions (Nolan et al. 1998).…”