Informal carers’ skills and training – a tool for recognition and empowerment

Informal carers gain a wealth of skills and experience while performing their caregiving tasks. These skills and competences are generally undervalued even though they could potentially be an important instrument to improve the caring experience both for carers and their carees. Recognising and developing informal carers’ skills is also a sound investment for society as a whole since these are key to secure carers’ crucial contribution to longterm care systems. Even more so, valuing and strengthening informal carers’ skills may prove a promising tool to counter their social exclusion and to improve their chances to maintain an active life or re-enter the labour market.