The needs of informal carers for people with dementia

There are approximately 800 000 people with dementia in the UK. Dementia is debilitating, not only for sufferers, but also for their informal carers. Drawing on qualitative research, this article considers issues that health and social care practitioners need to take in account so that they can appropriately provide and target their support for informal carers of people with dementia. Specifically, this article considers carer's experiences and expectations of social/informal support and the ways in which they engage with statutory and voluntary sector support. The article highlights that individual carers have different resources to draw upon and it should not be assumed that they will be supported by family and friends. Carers may also have negative experiences of support from formal service providers characterised by a poor provision of information regarding the support services. Health and social care practitioners should not assume that carers are able to discover this information themselves. In sum, practitioners need to be aware of the support needs of not only people with dementia but also their carers.