Caring for carers in community pharmacy

Unpaid or informal carers are people who provide personal care, support and assistance to another individual, eg with a disability or medical condition.1 Unpaid carers can undertake a variety of responsibilities on behalf of their care-receiver,2 including medication management, household chores, financial support and coordination of, and transport to, health appointments. Unpaid carers are everyday heroes of healthcare systems worldwide; they do not undertake such a role as part of a service/employment contract and are often family members, sometimes young children supporting their parents. Their value is recognized both in terms of the support they provide to the care-receiver, and by substantial financial savings to health budgets.3–5 The economic contribution of such carers has been estimated in terms of their replacement value, ie the cost per hour of providing home care; in 2015, this was 132 billion British pounds for the United Kingdom,3 and 60 billion Australian dollars for Australia.5 The demand for informal care is expected to grow, or even exceed supply, which is influenced by multiple factors, including the prevalence of chronic conditions and an ageing population.5 Over 2.86 million Australians identified as carers in 2015, including young carers under 15 years of age.5 However, this number is unlikely to fully represent all those undertaking caring roles, ie the ‘hidden carers’ in society that do not self-identify with this term.6