Table 4 Care-giving models identified in support plans for informal care in the UK and Andalusia

Model	Characteristics	UK	Andalusia
Carers as resource	Very broad definition of carers: any person in the community or family who provides help	Yes	No
	The focal point of interest is the dependent person	Yes	Yes
	The objective is to maximise informal care and minimise changes in carers	Yes	No
	The conflict of interests between care givers and recipients is ignored	No	Yes
Carers as co-workers	The definition of carers is broad: people in the community or family who help as principal carers	No	No
	The focal point of interest is the dependent person and the instrumental interest is in carers	Yes	Yes
	The objective is to maximise quality of informal care by means of the carer’s wellbeing	Yes	Yes
	There is partial acknowledgement of the conflict of interests between care providers and recipients	Yes	Yes
Carers as co-clients	The definition of carers is restricted to main carers only	No	Yes
	Interest is focused on carers	Yes	Yes
	The objective is to achieve carers’ wellbeing	Yes	Yes
	The conflict of interest between care providers and recipients is only acknowledged in one direction	Yes	No
Superseded carer	There is no definition of carers because the term is not used. People are referred to as relatives and friends	No	No
	The focal point of interest lies in dependent individuals and carers as separate entities	No	No
	The objective is to achieve the dependent person’s independence and the carer’s wellbeing as two separate objectives	No	No
	There is a two directional acknowledgement of those who provide care and those who receive it	Yes	No