A researcher with the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), Dr. Kudus Adebayo, has made the case for the formalisation of informal caregivers in hospitals.
The don said informal caregivers hanging around tertiary health facilities need special attention and policy to attend to their precarious situation.
According to Adebayo, there was the need for policy, program formulation, and implementation that would acknowledge the role of informal caregivers in hospitalisation care in Nigeria.
Speaking in Ibadan during a dissemination workshop for a CARTA-funded study on “Lived experiences of migrating informal caregivers,” Adebayo, who is the principal investigator, said informal caregivers are central to the care of hospitalised patients in Nigeria.
He stated that despite limited acknowledgment of their indispensable roles and contributions, they will remain critical in the nations health system until factors creating the gap they are filling are addressed.
He noted that neglecting those providing hospital-based informal caregiving will continue to slow down the attainment of UHC in Nigeria.
According to him, caregivers are the heart of Universal Health Coverage as they supply valuable labour to the health system, but they face challenges that can be worsened by circumstances under which they support patients on admission.
“Informal Caregivers are individuals, usually family members, relatives or friends who provide unpaid supportive care to those unable to care for themselves because of health challenges or hospitalisation.
“Informal Caregivers with hospitalised relatives are constrained to stay around hospitals because the daily movement to and from their regular place of residence is difficult, costly, inefficient, impracticable or impossible.
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“The challenges faced by Informal caregivers have a negative impact on their health with additional consequences for health workers and the hospital.”
“Informal caregivers face many challenges related to health and well-being, facility deficiencies, social and economic issues, security and safety, relational and attitudinal problem and hygiene maintenance.”
The University Co-focal person, CARTA, Dr Olufunke Fayehun, announced the consortium has spent $3.6million on 36 personnel of the University of Ibadan in the past 12 years for doctoral training, adding that “25 have graduated while 11 fellows are still on their PhD programs at Ibadan or other CARTA partner institutions outside Nigeria”.
According to Fayehun, CARTA hopes that the findings of the funded research will inform policy and program formulation and implementation that acknowledges caregivers’ role in hospitalization care in Nigeria.
