ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by providing a brief historical context alongside a section on definitions of carers, followed by an overview of a range of terms used in the literature and types of care typically undertaken. What is important to note is that the term ‘carer’ is used extensively in the United Kingdom (and in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia) in health and social care policy (Molyneaux et al. 2011) and yet the term ‘family’ or ‘relative’ tends to be the preferred one in other European countries. Regardless of the preference of terms, what needs to be acknowledged is how important the role is economically, as billions of pounds are saved that would otherwise have to be spent on health and social care services. This chapter also covers several highlights from the UK census data in regard to numbers of carers with reference to ethnicity, age and hours dedicated to caregiving. Then, a discussion on carer awareness, caregiving tasks and responsibilities follows.
