Identifying research priorities about older carers and taking carers’ research to carers

Informal, unpaid carers perform a vital role in supporting others with illness and disability. About 7 million carers in the UK save the economy an estimated £132 billion each year in care costs. Older carers are a very important sub-group of carers: and their numbers are increasing more rapidly compared to younger carers, and they often spend more time caring. Despite this, there is little research that focuses on older carers and we do not know what their research priorities are.

We will run four workshops with older carers and local service providers to identify their priorities for research about older carers aged 70+. After outlining current research, we propose to have two parallel discussion groups – one with carers and the other with service providers. Once participants’ research priorities are identified, we will host a seminar with UK carer researchers to develop future proposals informed by our findings.

We aim to increase understanding of research priorities about older carers from the perspectives of older carers and those supporting them, and increase engagement with third sector organisations in future research. We will also collaborate with UK researchers and, ultimately, improve research and support for older carers.