COVID-19 and UK family carers: policy implications

Juliana Onwumere¹, Cathy Creswell², Gill Livingston³, David Shiers⁴, Kate Tchanturia⁵, Tony Charman⁶, Alisa Russell⁷, Janet Treasure⁵, Marta Di Forti⁸, Emilie Wildman⁶, Helen Minnis⁹, Allan Young⁵, Annette Davis¹⁰, Elizabeth Kuipers¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham, UK. Electronic address: juliana.1.onwumere@kcl.ac.uk.
² Department of Experimental Psychology, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
³ Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.
⁴ Psychosis Research Unit, Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust, Manchester, UK; Division of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; Primary Care and Health Sciences, Keele University, Keele, UK.
⁵ Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
⁷ Department of Psychology, Centre of Applied Autism Research, University of Bath, Bath, UK.
⁸ Department of Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
⁹ University of Glasgow, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Glasgow, UK.
¹⁰ South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham, UK.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham, UK.

PMID: 34537103
PMCID: PMC8445736
DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00206-6

Review

COVID-19 and UK family carers: policy implications

Juliana Onwumere et al. Lancet Psychiatry. 2021 Oct.

. 2021 Oct;8(10):929-936.

doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00206-6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham, UK. Electronic address: juliana.1.onwumere@kcl.ac.uk.
² Department of Experimental Psychology, and Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
³ Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.
⁴ Psychosis Research Unit, Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust, Manchester, UK; Division of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; Primary Care and Health Sciences, Keele University, Keele, UK.
⁵ Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
⁷ Department of Psychology, Centre of Applied Autism Research, University of Bath, Bath, UK.
⁸ Department of Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
⁹ University of Glasgow, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Glasgow, UK.
¹⁰ South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham, UK.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham, UK.

PMID: 34537103
PMCID: PMC8445736
DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00206-6

Abstract

Informal (unpaid) carers are an integral part of all societies and the health and social care systems in the UK depend on them. Despite the valuable contributions and key worker status of informal carers, their lived experiences, wellbeing, and needs have been neglected during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Health Policy, we bring together a broad range of clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience as informal carers to share their thoughts on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK carers, many of whom have felt abandoned as services closed. We focus on the carers of children and young people and adults and older adults with mental health diagnoses, and carers of people with intellectual disability or neurodevelopmental conditions across different care settings over the lifespan. We provide policy recommendations with the aim of improving outcomes for all carers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests.

References

1. WHO WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19. March 11, 2020. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-genera...
1. Elflein J. Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases worldwide as of March 11, 2021, by country. July 19, 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1043366/novel-coronavirus-2019ncov-c...
1. Public Health England Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance. March 3, 2021. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-g...
1. UK Government Coronavirus Act 2020. 2020. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/7/contents/enacted
1. Office for National Statistics Labour market overview, UK. Feb 25, 2021. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employment...

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COVID-19 and UK family carers: policy implications

Affiliations

COVID-19 and UK family carers: policy implications

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources