Watch the full presentation
Recording of the BetterCare webinar with Dr. Vanessa Ribeiro Neves.
Caring for the carer is a patient safety intervention
In this talk, Dr. Vanessa Ribeiro Neves (Paulista School of Nursing, Federal University of São Paulo – Unifesp, Brazil) connects two issues that are often treated separately: the mental health and wellbeing of the people who provide care at home, and the safety of the people they care for. Drawing on evidence from Europe and Brazil, she shows why protecting those who care is part of protecting those who receive care.
Families carry the load
In Europe and in Brazil, most long-term care at home is provided by relatives, mostly women, with little training, recognition or system support.
people in Europe provide informal long-term care
of informal long-term caregivers in the EU are women
people in Brazil provide unpaid care to family members
of older people in Brazil who need daily help rely only on unpaid care
One in three caregivers lives with depression or anxiety. Median prevalence across 18 meta-analyses of informal caregivers:
Five parts, one message
Care is moving home
- The scale of informal care in Europe and Brazil
- The home as a care setting: a “hospital without walls”, 24/7/365
- About the BetterCare network
What the evidence shows
- Depression, anxiety and burden among caregivers
- Care is gendered, in Europe and beyond
- Brazilian studies: dementia, dependent older people and autism
Why wellbeing is a safety issue
- From caregiver strain to patient harm
- Mapping what can go wrong in home care
- Double victimisation and the silent transfer of responsibility
What works
- Combined interventions work better than education alone
- CBT and ACT, also at a distance
- What systems should do: areas for action, practical tools and indicators
A Brazilian panorama
- National Care Policy (Law 15,069/2024)
- National Care Plan “Brasil que Cuida”
- iSupport-Brasil and local initiatives
Mapping what can go wrong in home care
A consensus study with 13 health and social care professionals in the Dénia Health Department (Alicante, Spain) mapped the tasks informal caregivers perform at home and the errors that can occur (Abed, Neves et al., Research in Nursing & Health, 2026).
caregiving domains, including caregiver wellbeing
procedures informal caregivers carry out
possible errors, each rated for severity
safety recommendations in plain language
The most severe errors involve missing signs of deterioration, such as a drop in oxygen saturation or abnormal blood pressure.
Caring for the caregiver, by recognising, training, supporting and measuring their wellbeing, is a care recipient safety intervention. Dr. Vanessa Ribeiro Neves, Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp)
Our warm thanks to Dr. Vanessa Ribeiro Neves for sharing this work with the BetterCare network 💙
