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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Scoping the field
— services for carers of people with mental health problems | | Author(s) | Hilary Arksey |
| Journal title | Health & Social Care in the Community, vol 11, no 4, July 2003 |
| Pages | pp 335-344 |
| Keywords | Mental disorder ; Informal care ; Services ; Cost effectiveness ; Literature reviews. |
| Annotation | As many as 1.5 million people in the UK may be involved in caring for a relative or friend with a mental illness or some form of dementia. Recent policy initiatives such as the National Service Frameworks for Mental Health and Older People (NSFs) emphasise the importance of providing support for this particular group of carers. The findings are reported of a scoping study to identify what the research tells us about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions for carers of people with mental health problems, and also where the gaps are in the knowledge base. Of 204 evaluation studies in the review, just 13 had an economic component. Most were conducted in the US, and aimed at carers of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other forms of dementia. Although almost all of the studies were able to identify some positive outcomes of services provided, overall there was a lack of strong evidence to support any specific interventions. In contrast to the relatively narrow approach to effectiveness adopted in most of the studies, contributors to a consultation exercise perceived this concept in a far more rounded and holistic way. For them, the process of service delivery was as important as outcomes. There was relatively little research evaluating interventions and services singled out in UK policy initiatives as potentially useful in supporting this group of carers, and further evaluation studies are needed. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-030703203 A |
| Classmark | E: P6: I: WEC: 64A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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