CARING FOR SOMEONE WITH DEMENTIA IN A RURAL TOWN .2. SERVICES

Dementia care in rural areas is in need of attention from researchers, planners and policy makers. Family carers in these areas face some si gnificant challenges, in terms of managing the care where support serv ices are often unavailable or inaccessible. This paper reports on a qu alitative study in which a group of rural based carers participated in a focus group and interviews. Through this process, the carers' perce ptions of support services were explored. Content analysis of the data revealed that, despite a number of supportive aspects of rural life, these carers felt in need of more services, a finding supported by cur rent literature.