Whilst the primary responsibility for choosing and organising long term care placements most frequently falls to informal carers; the experiences of this group are relatively under-researched in comparison to studies focussed upon older people as they transition into care home settings.

This study will aim to:

• Contribute to existing understandings of the experiences of family care-givers as they facilitate care home admission for older people
• Explore the nature of support specifically required in facilitating the effective adjustment of family care-givers to long-term placement.
• Consider the extent to which current social policy related to care home admissions and existing social work practice during placement reflects the concerns of informal care-givers and builds upon their need for specific types of support
• In light of the above: to consider some of the actions that may be required (from both a policy and practice perspective), to enable practitioners to deliver interventions most suited to the needs of informal care-givers at a time of placement and therefore most likely to promote effective placement adjustment.