Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the trustees of The Helen Jean Cope Trust for additional financial support provided to make this study possible.

I would like to thank Professor Stuart Kirk for all of his valuable support and advice throughout the project. Thanks are also due to Professor Rainer Goldsmith for his advice and to Bob Harding for the input of questionnaire survey data.

I am grateful to: the managers of the Shotover Day Centre and the chairman of OXSRAD for their helpful co-operation in the focus group investigation; the focus group participants; the advice providing organisations that sent the figures on their enquiries; staff of the Day Care Centres and Carers' Support Centres, and leaders of the Lunch Clubs and Over 60s groups that took part in the questionnaire survey. I am also grateful to Gill Kirby, branch liaison officer for the Carers National Association, and Elspeth Rodwell, communication officer for Age Concern England, for providing lists of local branches of their organisations.