Carers and caring are contemporary global issues of growing political and societal significance. Changing demographics in the UK and beyond, as well as policy drivers promoting community-based living, mean that the family is increasingly the site of care for relatives with long term support needs. Whilst there is a plethora of literature on carers it tends to be situated in separate subject areas. For the first time Family Carers and Caring brings together a range of material and evidence about carers from different sources presented in an accessible and yet academically informed way. Milne and Larkin help to make sense of the complexities of family carers and caring, carving a coherent path through the academic, policy, socio-political, and practice terrain. Family Carers and Caring is explicitly underpinned by principles of social justice and rights, focusing on how inequalities intersect with caring.

Focusing on mental health rather than mental illness, this book adopts a lifecourse approach to understanding mental health and wellbeing in later life. Well-respected author and scholar Alisoun Milne explores the influences of lifecourse experiences, structural inequalities, socio-political context, history, gender and age related factors and engages with new ways of thinking about preventing mental ill health and promoting mental health in later life. Drawing together material from a number of different fields, the book analyses the meaning and determinants of mental health among older populations and offers a critical review of the lifecourse, ageing and mental health discourse for students, professionals, policy makers and researchers.

The care home sector is large, with over 400 000 residents in the UK and a similar number employed within the homes. It is therefore an area of considerable economic importance. Care home residents are often very old, and many have multiple physical and mental health needs, meaning that their care poses particular challenges. They are also a distinctly and profoundly marginalised group who are often invisible in the wider debates on quality of care including those about care homes.
Mental Health and Care Homes is a coherent and evidence-based text exploring these issues. Bringing together both clinical and research perspectives it will help those working in the care home sector to deliver high quality care and support to both residents and staff. This important, yet neglected, area is thoroughly reviewed by a range of experts including residents, family carers, staff, researchers, and clinicians.
The book has four sections: 'the inside view' which includes several first-hand accounts of care home life; 'the outside view' which discusses the regulatory, funding, and legislative context in which care homes operate; 'mental health and care', a detailed review of the major mental and other health issues that arise in care homes, as well as interventions and services to offer support; and a section exploring the 'promotion of health and wellbeing' including examples of good practice. It concludes by synthesising key themes and setting an agenda for further enquiry.
The book is written in a style that encourages engagement, with the inclusion of contemporary case studies and examples, making it topical and readable. It will be valuable for a broad professional and vocational audience across both health and social care, as well as students and researchers.

With contributions from experienced dementia practitioners and care researchers, this book examines the impact of culture and ethnicity on the experience of dementia and on the provision of support and services, both in general terms and in relation to specific minority ethnic communities. Drawing together evidence-based research and expert practitioners' experiences, this book highlights the ways that dementia care services will need to develop in order to ensure that provision is culturally appropriate for an increasingly diverse older population. The book examines cultural issues in terms of assessment and engagement with people with dementia, challenges for care homes, and issues for supporting families from diverse ethnic backgrounds in relation to planning end of life care and bereavement. First-hand accounts of living with dementia from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds give unique perspectives into different attitudes to dementia and dementia care. The contributors also examine recent policy and strategy on dementia care and the implications for working with culture and ethnicity. This comprehensive and timely book is essential reading for dementia care practitioners, researchers and policy makers.

Focusing on mental health rather than mental illness, this book adopts a lifecourse approach to understanding mental health and wellbeing in later life. Well-respected author and scholar Alisoun Milne explores the influences of lifecourse experiences, structural inequalities, socio-political context, history, gender and age related factors and engages with new ways of thinking about preventing mental ill health and promoting mental health in later life. Drawing together material from a number of different fields, the book analyses the meaning and determinants of mental health among older populations and offers a critical review of the lifecourse, ageing and mental health discourse for students, professionals, policy makers and researchers.

This book is both a timely and challenging exploration of providing personal care for people with learning disabilities, an area of care provision that tends to be neglected in comparison with high profile areas of care management today. Well researched and presented, there is comprehensive coverage of all main aspects of providing intimate and personal care, ranging from the wider context (culturally sensitive provision, sexuality, health and hygiene, and law) to more specific practice areas (multi-disciplinary working, teaching independent living skills, people with profound/multiple disabilities, children and young people and older adults).' - Professional Social Work 'Intimate and Personal Care with People with learning Disabilities edited by Steven Carnaby and Paul Cambridge (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, GBP19.99) is an academic book but it is fascinating and written to inform and change practice. Giving intimate care is possibly the most difficult and complex area of care work, yet it is rarely analysed and understood in this sort of depth. We tend to write rather pompous and detached policies about dignity and privacy and they don't actually help staff to discuss and think through the realities that they face when helping clients with the most intimate situations. Care plans may generalise and skate over the details, leaving residents and staff to do their best in situations that are personally and professionally challenging. This is a book for managers (of care homes of all kinds) who want to develop their team's capacity to think and to understand, and thereby to provide the very best care.' - Caring Times 'Probably the first substantial discussion of and guide to this essential area of care practice. A wideranging volume which deserves to be read and kept as a reference volume by all professional teams providing intimate care.' - Current Awareness Service This important guide is the first to consider the management and practice of intimate and personal care for people with learning disabilities. It examines in detail aspects of care such as training, ethnicity, sexuality and competence in practice, drawing on the extensive practical experience of the contributors. They discuss important issues including the nature of touch, how physical contact is intended and experienced, carers' duty of care, and risk management. Against the backdrop of a recent government strategy for people with learning disabilities, the book will also explore management considerations of best value, care standards, performance monitoring and inspection. Providing academic, professional and learning outcomes from research, this book will be an invaluable guide to managers, policy makers, carers, academics and students in the field of social care and learning disability.