The policy drive to support carers is a longstanding national and international priority. Research about the design and delivery of support for carers is critical to the underpinning evidence base. Through a timely exploration of a third sector perspective, the UK-based study discussed in this article provides insights into approaches to, and the commissioning of, support for older carers and carers of people with dementia. The study highlights the importance of: embedding carers’ perspectives in service developments; the provision of both generic and targeted support which adopts a nuanced and tailored approach; titrating the delivery of information and advice at a pace to match carers’ needs; capturing quantitative and qualitative dimensions in service evaluation; and increased quantity and longevity of funding. Such insights not only complement existing research but are also generalisable to other countries at a similar stage in the development of carer support.

Background: This paper describes the evaluation of the Memory Lane Café service in Victoria, Australia. The Alzheimer's Australia Vic Memory Lane Café model aims to provide a social and educational service to people living with dementia and their carers, family members or friends. Dementia is a serious health issue in Australia, with prevalence estimated at 6.5% of people over 65 years of age. Living with dementia has significant social and psychological ramifications, often negatively affecting quality of life. Social support groups can improve quality of life for people living with dementia.

Methods: The evaluation included focus groups and surveys of people with dementia and their carers, staff consultation, service provider interviews, and researcher observation. The Melbourne Health Mental Health Human Research Ethics Committee approved the project. Participants included people with dementia (aged 60 to 93 years, previously enrolled in the Alzheimer's Australia Vic's six-week Living With Memory Loss Program), their carers, friends and/or family members, staff working in the Cafés, and service providers with links to the Cafés.

Results: This evaluation found that Memory Lane Cafés promote social inclusion, prevent isolation, and improve the social and emotional well-being of attendees. However, Cafés did not meet the needs of all potential attendees.

Conclusions: The evaluation recommended that existing Café services be continued and possibilities for extending the Cafés be explored. Based on evaluation outcomes, the Department of Health Victoria is funding four additional pilot programs in café style support services.

Aims: To assess the feasibility of keeping a log of diabetes-related communication in a community pharmacy and to explore the potential of the logs to reflect diabetes-related communications within pharmacies. Design: A reflective log-keeping exercise (the log designed by the researchers and provided in a booklet form) in community pharmacies of any diabetes-related communication taking place between pharmacy staff and their service users, and any signposting made to and from other relevant health professionals. The study ran for four weeks. Subjects and setting: Nine community pharmacy branches of the Independent Pharmacy Care Centres PLC based in Hull, East Yorkshire and North & North East Lincolnshire. Outcome measures: A description of the form and nature of diabetes-related communication, taking place within the community pharmacy. The research team also sought feedback on the experience of keeping the log. Results: Twenty-two communications were logged; twenty-one involved direct face-to-face contact and one log involved a telephone conversation. Two-thirds of the communications involved conversations with patients with diabetes, a third were with a partner/family member. The conversations captured fell into five categories: sugar free medicines, blood glucose-testing metre, prescription medicines, diabetes specific education/ information and an unclassified category, respectively. The logs demonstrated that communications can involve all members of the staff team, working independently or jointly across their roles in the pharmacy. Conclusion: Community pharmacies in the pilot study were actively involved in providing diabetes health-related information/education and support. Communications involved directly assisting people with diabetes and providing information to people supporting others with a diagnosis of diabetes. We propose that the logs provide a valuable means of acquiring information about the form and nature of diabetes-related communication and signposting within community pharmacy.