New report: A Review of the National Carers’ Strategy

19 Jul 2021

As part of the CARERENGAGE project, Care Alliance Ireland and ISS21 have published a new report entitled 'A Review of the National Carers Strategy (2012): How Relevant are the Actions in 2021 and For The Future?'

This report is the culmination of a survey of family carers, policy makers, researchers and health & social care professionals carried out in January and February 2021, along with the feedback and discussion points from an event which took place in March. The aim of the survey was to assess the extent to which the 42 actions in the National Carers' Strategy (NCS) continue to be relevant from the perspectives of key stakeholders, including family carers, policymakers, relevant service providers, and researchers.

The findings suggest that while the NCS actions are still see as relevent in 2021, many stakeholders want them to be updated or expressed differently. A number of actions were regarded as too weak and in need of revision to strengthen them and to reflect greater commitment on the part of government to bring about change for family carers in Ireland. The top three priority action areas identified by both family carers and other stakeholders were: income supports, supports and services, and respite.

The full report can be downloaded here. You can watch the lead researcher for the project, Dr. Maria Pierce, present the key findings here.