Informal family carers bear the burden of care

Findings from a new study have illustrated the imbalance between expectations placed on informal family carers and the resources available to support them.

In an article published in the Australian Health Review, Dr Briony Dow and Dr John McDonald describe the ‘invisible contract’ that binds family members to carry out substantial care-work that was previously carried out by hospital staff.

They found an expectation existed for the family members to accept a caring role with little consideration for their individual circumstances and listed examples where no consultation had occurred prior to arrangements for the transfer of care.

While there are many benefits to providing care at home, the increasing trend of shifting care from institutional settings to home and community settings is largely driven by economic factors rather than welfare concerns.

This comes partly as a result of the effects of an ageing population and an increase in the number of people living with chronic disease or disability.

Australia’s unpaid family carers are already providing $30.5 billion worth of care every year at great personal cost in both financial terms and in terms of their health and wellbeing.

This study describes how, despite an increasing reliance on them, family carers remain poorly compensated and largely excluded from the decision-making process.