Considerations on Caring for Caregivers in an Aging Society.

While it is anticipated that healthcare systems around the world will continue to rely heavily on family members and friends to provide unpaid care especially to meet the needs of our aging population, current assumptions and issues around caregivers need to be challenged and addressed if we are to expect their future support. This paper builds on Williams et al's assertion that many current assumptions and issues around caregivers need to be challenged and addressed if we are to expect their future support. Indeed, with the pool of available caregivers expected to actually shrink in the future, this paper therefore examines four key policy issues in greater depth that we can address to enable individuals to age in place and others to maintain and take on caregiving roles. Through the establishment of policies that support robust and longterm capacity planning; make clear what care recipients and caregivers can expect to receive in the form of government supports; appreciate the increasing diversity that is occurring among those taking on caregiving roles and those requiring care; and recognize the need to invest in strategies that combat social isolation, we may not only improve our future health and well-being but ensure we are also enabled to care for ourselves as we age.

'Non Surgical' jaundice - how to manage on the medical take.

Malignancy and alcoholic hepatitis are cited as the most common causes of jaundice seen in secondary care. A patient with non-alcohol related jaundice, however, may require extensive investigations and early involvement of specialists. This article utilises a case presenting to the Acute Medical Unit, (AMU) to illustrate the importance of a careful and systematic assessment of non-alcoholic related jaundice.