'I really feel I've let him down': supporting family carers during long-term care placement for elders

This paper considers placing a relative in a nursing home from a carer's pe rspective. A largely structured, interviewer-administered, questionnaire su rvey was conducted with 48 carers in the United Kingdom and 54 carers in th e United States of America. While the data highlight differences between th e two countries, shared experiences emerge which suggest that carers often have to make difficult decisions without adequate support. Implications for practice are considered. The need to develop more robust support mechanism s is stressed.