The role of carers in evaluating mental health services for older people

Objectives. To examine, using the published literature and local service ex perience, the contributions that carers can make to the development and eva luation of specialist mental health services for the elderly. Methods. MEDLINE search for relevant papers about carers and the elderly, e specially with mental disorders; review of recent experience of service pla nning, implementation and evaluation in the Cambridge area. Results. Increased emphasis on the role of carers in recent literature, ext ending into acknowledgement of the carer perspective in official publicatio ns; few papers on the role of carers specifically in evaluating services, w ith only one study looking solely at an old age psychiatry service. Conclusions. There is considerable scope for involving carers in the develo pment and evaluation of services, though there are also some potential conc erns, not least that carers and users may have different perspectives. Thes e issues are discussed, along with possible future developments, such as th e need for a standardized assessment of carer satisfaction. (C) 1998 John W iley & Sons, Ltd.