Abstract

This presentation will use data from a study looking at social care practice with carers funded by the National Institute for Health Research School for Social Care support to consider the varying perspectives of family carers, voluntary organisations, local councils, and carers’ workers on the types of support that are provided to family carers.

Internationally, a key objective of long term care policy has been to provide better support for family caregivers. This can be seen in the increasing number of policy initiatives, such as the Carers’ Strategies in the United Kingdom (UK), support for carers in employment in the Netherlands, and the rights to a monthly break for carers giving full-time care in Finland. In the UK, local councils have been the gatekeepers for access to a carer’s assessment and are jointly responsible for developing local strategies designed to identify carers in their locality and arrange appropriate support for them.

Drawing on a combination of interview and survey data, this presentation will highlight some of the policy tensions in terms of balancing universal and targeted services.

Slides