What about informal carers and families?

Changing demographics mean that people are living longer and there is an increase in the number of older people who are frail and living with co-morbidities. Caring for this group requires the involvement of a wide range of health and social care professions with the aim to support people approaching the end of their life to live as well as possible until they die. Over the final 6 months of life, the majority of time is spent at home and most people prefer to die at home. Family and friends take a central role in providing support to patients and are the main providers of both long-term and end-of-life care (Wolff et al. Arch Intern Med 167(1):40–46, 2007). This type of care, informal care, has been found to be a significant substitute for formal long-term care. The value of informal care is estimated to be to be £119 billion per year. The focus of this chapter is the financial implications for individuals and their families of supporting a family member or friend at the end of life. This chapter looks at out of pocket expenses to carers, employment-related implications and the impact of financial costs and government policies that aim to provide financial support for informal carers.