Paid care workers and unpaid family carers are leaving their jobs or cutting their hours because the physical demands of the job are damaging their own health, yet no one has systematically mapped how this cycle works or who it hits hardest. This matters because the UK’s adult social care system depends on a workforce—both paid staff and unpaid family carers—whose own health is often neglected. When carers become too ill to work, the system loses experienced workers, unpaid carers drop out of the paid workforce, NHS costs rise, and tax revenues fall. The researchers do not yet know whether the work–health relationship differs between paid care staff and unpaid carers, or between groups defined by age, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Over ten months, the team will run co-production workshops with carers and providers, conduct a scoping review of existing evidence, and interview up to 30 paid and unpaid carers. The goal is to design a larger programme grant that can identify practical ways to keep carers healthy and in work. If successful, the subsequent research could lead to better workplace support, more stable staffing in care homes and home-care services, and fewer carers forced to leave paid employment altogether.
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Research question "What is the relationship between work and health in the paid and unpaid adult social care workforce and what are associated inequalities in accessing relevant care and support?" Background The health of the paid and unpaid carer workforce is vital to support frail and vulnerable adults and older adults living in the community or in residential care. Considering the substantial physical demands in caring for someone, the health of the carer is also likely to play a substantial role in their employment status. Many social care workers are found to leave the sector, whilst unpaid carers often have to reduce their employment hours or leave altogether to provide unpaid care. These pressures of work and health in the care sector can lead to poorer health outcomes, reduced staff retention, higher NHS service use, lower tax revenues, and increased welfare payments. However, we do not fully understand how work and health are related to one another in the care workforce and whether this relationship is different for different groups of the carer workforce. Aims and objectives We will establish a collaborative team of diverse experts to develop plans for a subsequent large project aiming to understand the relationships between work and health for the paid and unpaid social care workforce, and ways to support these. Methods We are a large team of academic, social care, unpaid care, and third sector experts who will come together monthly to explore the relationship between work and health in the care workforce (Work stream 1). We will hold four co-production workshops to discuss the complex relationship between work and health in carers with experts (including carers) (Work stream 2). We will conduct a scoping review on existing evidence on the relationship between work and health in carers, which will identify gaps of knowledge for our programme grant application (Work stream 3). In parallel, we will conduct up to 30 semi-structured interviews with paid and unpaid carers to understand their experiences of how their health may be linked to work outcomes (Work stream 4). These findings will help us to identify research questions and methods for a subsequent grant application aimed to identify ways to strengthen health and work for carers. One unpaid carer and three social care providers/Charities have been involved in developing this grant as co-applicants. we will recruit a public consultation group of up to 10 social care staff; unpaid carers; health care professionals; and businesses to meet three times. Attendees will be recruited from diverse backgrounds and will shape the review and programme grant application. Timelines for delivery The four work streams will be delivered in parallel, to inform the submission of a programme grant application at the end of Month 10. Knowledge mobilisation, dissemination and impact Findings will be disseminated via lay and academic outlets, including in social care organisations and carer support groups. Public advisors and care providers on the team will be actively involved in dissemination.
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