Description Explores family carer issues across a variety of settings, including the home, care homes, and hospice Discusses sociological, political and cultural aspects of family carers Considers the needs and evidence-based strategies to support family carers of patients with a variety of life threatening condition Outlines a research, policy and practice agenda for the next decade Includes contributions from a multidisciplinary group of experts from several continents Each chapter contains a summary of the key learning points, a list of recommended resources and references Support for the family is a key component of palliative care practice and philosophy, with both patient and family construed as the 'unit of care'. However, there is not always formal acknowledgement of the importance of the family carer role, or that of friends, neighbours and other non-professional, informal carers. Consequently, health and social care professionals find carer support work particularly challenging. Symptom management, personal care, and administering of medications are just some of the tasks taken on by this group of non-professionals, and the impact of this role can have negative emotional, physical, financial and social implications on the care-giver. Furthermore, family carers consistently report unmet needs, and there has been a lack of intervention studies aimed at improving carer support. This book therefore provides an evidence-based, practical guide to enable h