Adjustment and intervention needs in young carers of people with chronic illnesses or disability : a systematic review

The need for informal carers has significantly grown, and continues to grow, with young people under the age of 25 years taking on the carer role for people (usually family members) with chronic illnesses. On average young carers can provide up to 20 hours of various physically and emotionally demanding duties per week. This provision of care is often associated with psychological distress and an increased risk of having a chronic illness themselves. This reduces their capacity to manage their own needs and provide quality care to a chronically ill person. Young carers who are not adequately supported with appropriate psychosocial intervention represent an especially vulnerable population with developmental concerns particularly faced by adolescents. This systematic review identified and evaluated quantitative research, focusing on the outcome of psychosocial interventions on young carers of people with chronic illnesses. CINAHL via EBSCO, EMBASE via OVID, Medline via OVID, PsychINFO via OVID, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were the selected and searched databases. Unpublished/grey literature was noted in Scopus and the World Health Organisation database. The systematic search revealed that only 4 studies met the inclusion criteria to be included in this review. Assessment of scientific rigour and risk of bias revealed methodological limitations of the included studies and results indicate minimal intervention efficacy. This review emphasises the need for gaining further quantitative evidence on the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for young carers. Furthermore, there is a need to develop standardised protocols for age-appropriate interventions designed to promote psychosocial adjustment among young carers and assist in the development of governmental policies to better support these vulnerable individuals take better care of people with chronic illness.