The latest white paper campaign from Havas Lynx looks at the tremendous impact that carers have on the lives of patients and their value to all stakeholders in healthcare. Through in-depth interviews with carers from around the world, frontline support workers and leading experts, plus the support of comprehensive secondary research, the campaign offers a picture of what life is like for carers and how we as an industry can better support them.
Carers are the family, friends and neighbours that are by the side of patients day after day, hour after hour. Many simply wouldn’t be able to cope without the selfless care they provide and their efforts are felt throughout the industry.
To healthcare systems, carers are the unpaid army keeping everything going. The value of care provided by unpaid caregivers in the UK is almost equivalent to the total cost of public health spending (£132bn and £134bn respectively).1
To pharmaceutical companies, carers are the potential catalysts to therapy success. Studies with COPD and chronic kidney disease patients indicate that carers can have a positive influence on patient adherence to medication and healthy behaviours, thus driving positive outcomes in the process.2,3
To healthcare professionals, carers are the experts-by-experience who turn treatment plans into a reality. In the time they spend alongside patients they gain experience and knowledge that makes them an invaluable ally to healthcare professionals. As Emily Holzhausen OBE, director of policy and public affairs at Carers UK, said: “Carers are a huge source of evidence [to healthcare professionals]…with very rare conditions, sometimes the carer is the person that knows more than the professional sitting in front of them.”
In spite of their obvious value to all in healthcare, carers efforts are often overlooked and unsupported. Through discussions with carers, support workers and experts, Havas Lynx noted the word ‘invisible’ crept up time and time again.
To better understand the needs of carers and gain an insight into just how significant a role they play in the world of healthcare, Havas Lynx conducted in-depth interviews with ten carers from around the world (England, Scotland, Italy, Netherlands, Kenya and India). Carers spend a lot of their time focused on the needs of other people, which in itself creates an unmet need for carers. This unmet need helped shape many of the discussions Havas Lynx had with the carers they spoke to.
These conversations were supported by consultations with frontline support workers and further interviews with leading figures from the caring community, including:
- Emily Holzhausen OBE, director of policy and public affairs, Carers UK
- Gail Scott-Spicer, CEO, Carers Trust
- Beth Britton, renowned campaigner, consultant, and writer
- Anil Patil, founder and executive director, Carers Worldwide.
With support from comprehensive secondary research, Havas Lynx invites us to consider their findings and join them as they seek to better support carers – healthcare’s unseen army.
Over the coming months Havas Lynx will be releasing a series of blogs, YouTube films and podcasts, featuring interviews with experts and carers. Visit www.invisible-army.com for more information.
Please join the conversation with #Caring4Carers.
