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Informal Carers of Former Long‐stay Hospital Residents With Learning Disabilities
Author(s) -
McGilloway Sinead,
Donnelly Michael,
Mays Nicholas
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
british journal of learning disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.633
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1468-3156
pISSN - 1354-4187
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3156.1995.tb00186.x
Subject(s) - respite care , learning disability , anxiety , psychology , nursing , challenging behaviour , set (abstract data type) , medicine , psychiatry , computer science , programming language
This study set out to describe and analyse the nature and consequences of care for a small number of informal carers ( n = 9) providing full‐time care for people with learning disabilities discharged from long‐stay hospitals between 1987 and 1992. The findings showed that these carers, whilst not adversely affected by their caring roles, did experience restrictions on their personal and social lives as well as increased anxiety and physical fatigue. In contrast with findings from other studies of carers of people with learning disabilities, they had more difficulty with practical caring tasks/activities (e.g. providing help with social activities) than with problem behaviour. Although generally satisfied with the professional support received, carers indicated that they would benefit from more support, especially holiday and weekend respite care.