Home-based assessment for family carers: A preventative strategy to identify and meet service needs

Abstract

Objective. To identify unmet need for services among family carers and their frail or disabled relatives and to facilitate links to services. Design. Intervention study with a subgroup of carer dyads from a random statewide survey of family carers, followed by telephone 2 months post intervention. Setting. Carer dyads in general community; urban and rural Victoria. Participants. All 186 identified carers were approached. One-third of the dyads were ineligible; of the remainder, 67 (53%) participated, matching refusals on sociodemographic characteristics. Carers were typically married, middle-aged women looking after parents or spouses. Almost half of the care recipients were aged ≤ 80; most ..