Overcoming the Marginalisation of Older Spouse Carers

This concluding chapter will provide an overview of preceding content and consider its implications for research, policy and practice. The first part of the chapter will aim to challenge the fragmentation in perspective and focus that has tended to characterise approaches to unpaid care and older age. In doing so, it will advocate the adoption of an integrated approach to understanding the experiences of older spouse carers and in effectively responding to their support needs and aspirations. This will be followed in the second section of the chapter by a consideration of specific ways in which this approach can be achieved.