BetterCare Project

04 | Prevention, supporting and rehabilitation after care errors

Caring errors at home are far more widespread than imagined. Medication-related ones are the most
common, but they are not the only type.

Not only do they affect to recipients but caregivers as well. The emotional impact of making mistakes
may lead to futher errors. That is why prevention, support and rehabilitation are essential in addressing
this issue.

The BetterCare Project seeks to raise awareness about home care by exploring key issues related to it and
assessing its impact on patient safety. It further addresses preventive strategies and interventions to reduce
the risk of errors in home care settings.

This episode explores how informal caregivers can be effectively supported in the wake of care-
related mistakes

This is the focus of this episode; exploring how a framework can be designed to support home carers after
mistakes occur.

03 | Empowering informal caregivers

Informal caregivers play a critical role in supporting individuals at home. And still, this essential service is
often ignored.

Strengthening and empowering the resilience of informal caregivers is, as you have just heard, an
obligation.

The question now is who should help them in this challenge and how?

02 | Ensuring Safe Care at Home

Ensuring safe care at home is the main goal of Bettercare. And informal caregivers are the principal piece
of the puzzle, but not the only one.

Health care at home requires a collaborative approach that prioritizes a secure and supportive relationship
between caregivers and recipients. An approach that includes an educational dimension, training and
qualification programmes, access to technology to enhance safety in the home and mental and
phychosocial support.

Two experts from BetterCare explain how to achieve it in this episode.

01 | What is BetterCare Project?

The world's ageing population continues to grow. In Europe, the number of people aged 60 and over is
expected to reach 1.4 billion by 2030. It will double by 2050, according to World Health Organization.

Challenges, particularly in the health sector, arise from this reality. A large percentage of elder people is
living with multiples chronic diseases, like diabetes, heart disease, o dementia, and they need safety care
at home.

Informal caregivers, primarily women and an increasing number of untrained men, are providing care at
home without an adequate training and committing avoidable mistakes that can cause harm.

In this context, the Bettercare project has been launched. It is a European research network funded by
COST, European Cooperation in Science and Technology. It has been created to respond to the growing
demands coming from ageing population across Europe.