Carers and community mental health services |
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Authors: | Justine Schneider John Carpenter David Wooff Toby Brandon Faye McNiven |
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Institution: | (1) Centre for Applied Social Studies, University of Durham, 15 Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HL, Tel.: 0191-3747243 / 0191-3721469, Fax: 0191-3747629, E-Mail: Justine.Schneider@dur.ac.uk, GB;(2) Statistics Consultancy Unit, University of Durham, UK, GB;(3) Dept. of Behavioural Sciences, University of Manchester, UK, GB |
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Abstract: | Background There is a growing appreciation of the role and needs of carers for people with mental health problems. Carers are a diverse
group, including partners, relatives and friends who are seen as such by service users. Methods Sixty-four carers of people with severe mental health problems served by four different mental health care providers were
interviewed using the Experiences of Care-giving Inventory. The districts were selected to differentiate services that are
targeted at more severely impaired users from those that include a wider spectrum, and to contrast services that have greater
integration between health and social care providers with those whose health and social care agencies operate relatively discretely.
Results In the two districts where service users had more severe mental health problems, carers worried more about negative symptoms
and thought less about good aspects of the caring relationship. In the two districts where health and social services worked
more closely together, carers worried significantly less about the need to back up services. Conclusions These findings suggest that service organisation can affect carers, in particular that integration between health and social
care for people with mental health problems may benefit carers in ways that were hitherto unproven. They highlight the needs
of carers for younger people. They show that the ECI is a useful instrument in measuring the impact of caring for people with
severe mental health problems.
Accepted: 19 September 2001 |
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Keywords: | Carers – Integration – Targeting – Experiences of care-giving inventory – Mental health services |
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