Here you will find an overview of all federal measures relating to carers and family caregivers for private individuals, healthcare professionals and health policymakers.
Relatives providing care and nursing (also known as family carers) are people of all ages, including children and teenagers, performing care and nursing tasks for a family member in need of support.
A person’s need for care can have many causes, for instance severe physical or mental illness, accidents or disabilities impairing everyday life, age-related frailty or end-of-life situations.
There are various ways to measure the number of family carers. Accordingly, the available data sources for Switzerland yield varying results. A study commissioned by the Federal Office of Public Health estimates that 592,000 people were providing care and nursing for a relative in 2018. Some 49,000 of these carers are between nine and fifteen years old (Otto et al. (2019). Bedürfnisse und Bedarf von betreuenden Angehörigen nach Unterstützung und Entlastung – eine Bevölkerungsbefragung (Studie G01a). [Personal needs and need for support and relief among family carers - population survey].
Promotion programme «Relief services for family carers 2017-2020»: Completed research mandates (available in German, French, Italian).
Relatives perform various care and nursing tasks to help the cared-for person manage their everyday life, ranging from psychological and social support to housekeeping, administrative tasks, transport service and/or medical care such as supporting professional at-home care services.
What does the federal government do for those concerned and their relatives?
The federal government itself does not offer assistance for family carers. However, it supports policymakers and organisations that work on behalf of family carers.
Family carers and those concerned can obtain direct support here:
What does the federal government do for healthcare professionals and institutions?
The following activities are being implemented by the federal government:
The survey instrument «Assessment tool for general practitioners: Caregivers» enables the need for relief for caregivers to be recognised at an early stage.
The www.bag-blueprint.ch website (in German or French) showcases health projects in the specialist fields offamily caregiving, dementia, domestic violence and violence against women, interprofessionality, palliative care, promotion of self-management and suicide prevention.
The «Support for relatives providing care and nursing» programme has studied the situation of relatives providing care and nursing, laying the groundwork for the further development of support programmes for family carers.
More information: Support programme «Development of relief services for family caregivers 2017-2020 » (in German, French and Italian).
Demographic change is set to further increase the importance of relatives providing nursing and care for sick family members. That is why the Federal Council is introducing a number of measures to support family carers: Action Plan «Support for relatives providing care and nursing»
The fourth SELF Forum was dedicated to the topic of “Learning from each other: How can we reach family members?”. The event revolved around the following topics:
How to get better at reaching family members and motivating them
How to improve interprofessional collaboration
How to deal with insufficient compensation for self-management programmes
More Information: 4. SELF Forum: «Learning from each other: How can we reach family members?» (in German, French and Italian)
The Federal Council intends to evaluate whether people on civilian service should assist people providing care and nursing to relatives in future. The Federal Council has tasked the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) with the launch and evaluation of a pilot project. A survey conducted by the Careum School of Health has revealed that relatives of cared-for people are in need of relief.
Civilian service: Pilot project offering relief for people providing care and nursing to relatives (in German, French and Italian)
How does the federal government support policymakers?
The FOPH creates knowledge bases for politicians and other interested parties. It also defines national standards together with other stakeholders. Furthermore, the FOPH responds to political initiatives from the Parliament.
Parliamentary initiatives (available in German, French, Italian):
Postulate Maret 21.3232 Cost-benefit analysis of the measures that companies have taken for their employees to reconcile work and caring for relatives
