Informal caregivers in the healthcare sector: who cares?

Objective This project aimed to implement informal care-friendly policy to improve the discussion, support and sustainable employability of employees with informal care tasks in the healthcare and welfare sector. Approach/method To this end, a needs assessment was carried out at 3 organizations, consisting of interviews and a questionnaire. A project group was set up within these organizations with employees with informal care tasks, managers and an HR professional. In addition to collaboration within the organizations, the findings were also shared between organizations. Results The needs assessment showed that there was a need to discuss informal care tasks and gain insight into (leave) arrangements. Competition from other important themes, such as COVID-19, staff shortages and financial problems, formed a barrier to the implementation of informal caregiver-friendly policies. Support from the top of the organization, an involved project group, a needs assessment and taking small steps had a positive effect. Other Read more about this project in the article Better work-life balance for healthcare workers thanks to informal care-friendly policy, in our article series This is how we make better use of results and returns in practice.