We should care about informal carers: Reforms are needed to improve their health and wellbeing

Informal carers-those who provide unpaid care for people with health concerns or age-related needs- frequently experience negative impacts on their own physical, mental, and social wellbeing. Health systems should respond to these impacts by explicitly recognising and addressing the support needs of informal carers. Positive outcomes for this underserved population group, sustain delivery of care, and reduce further burden on the healthcare system.

Three changes are needed to improve how health systems support carers. First, there must be a stronger and more systematic focus on carers’ wellbeing, including through the expansion of patient-centered care models to explicitly include carers. This should involve co-designing healthcare systems in ways that create space for carers as active partners in care. Second, carers’ needs should be routinely identified and assessed in clinical practice using standardised tools, ideally integrated into electronic health records. Third, clinicians must be supported to provide care for carers when needed—this requires a systemic approach that includes dedicated funding, targeted education, and protected clinical time to address carer wellbeing as part of routine care.

Embedding these reforms in policy and practice would not only improve health outcomes for carers but also strengthen the resilience and sustainability of healthcare systems.