Help I need someone: Care management and family carers of people with mental health problems

The study looked at carer views of the help they received, both formal and informal, and their views of help they themselves and the sufferer needed. It was shown that support from family carers and friends was limited for a number of reasons, and that services did not meet their or the sufferers' needs, particularly in that no one was able to take on the role acting as a 'centre'. That is, someone who might be perceived as sharing the burden and who might engage in rational planning for long-term needs rather than short-term crisis response. It mat be that a developing form of professional taking on the care manager role, but having therapeutic skills rather than mere administrative, may provide that centre of gravity in a world of increasingly fragmented services, in an increasingly short-term culture, and with increasing pressure on carers.