Transition support: helping older carers and their families - summary of findings
Margaret Skillman
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Contact Email:   annemarie.nicolfahcsia.gov.au

This paper highlights the findings from interviews conducted with 1600 older carers (over the age of 65 years) caring for immediate family members with disability (over the age of 40 years). The focus of the interviews was to discuss options for providing future care for their immediate family member with disability, and also to provide referrals for services to continue to support older carers to provide care within their home for as long as they were capable, or wished to do so.

The discussions with the older carers did in fact provide an understanding of the formal service needs of this group and provided an insight into their unmet support needs and their identified future support needs. However, what also emerged from these interviews was important information about a large group of carers who are not connected to formal services, who are socially isolated, are maintaining highly complex caring arrangements, who are struggling in their caring role due to their own poor health and increasing frailty, and whilst they are concerned for the future, do not have care plans in place, in the eventuality they are no longer able to care.

Finally, the paper also considers what we have learnt from older carers about the importance of early intervention, case management and coordination of services, and assistance with formulating future plans.

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