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Older Carers, Interdependence and the Care of Mentally Handicapped Adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Gordon Grant
Gordon Grant
Affiliation:
Director, Centre for Social Policy Research and Development, Department of Social Theory and Institutions, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, U.K.
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Abstract

Elderly people are often seen as the recipients of informal care. In the study reported here, there are clear indications that carers of mentally handicapped people are predominantly female and often beyond retirement age. For some the task is burdensome, but for many it provides a reciprocity both of care and of companionship. Older carers are observed to receive more professional aid than younger carers. But as demographic trends make this caring relationship more common it will be necessary for formal support systems to become more integrated and comprehensive.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , September 1986 , pp. 333 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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References

NOTES

* When taken together, the socio-economic class and age group of the main carer add greatly to the explanatory power of the one-way analysis of variance reported in this paper. Further work on n–way analysis of variance is now proceeding.

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