Informal caregivers can become double victims when safety incidents happen at home.

Healthcare is moving into the home. Family and friends often take on this work without formal training or system support. This shift raises the danger of safety incidents, such as falls and medication errors. When harm happens, informal caregiversinformal caregiversFamily members, friends, or acquaintances who provide care without formal training or pay. can become double victims. This means they suffer both the emotional pain of seeing a loved one hurt and distress from being involved in the event. Researchers worked with international experts and reviewed existing literature to create a new model for home care safety. The model shows how care works across different levels. Everyday care happens at home, shaped by caregiver abilities and household conditions. Larger systems, like professional help and government policies, can either protect against harm or make problems worse. The model explains that safety requires predicting and lowering avoidable harm, responding well when harm occurs, and supporting recovery and learning after an incident.

Why it matters

As more care moves out of hospitals and into homes, untrained family members and friends become frontline caregivers. When something goes wrong—a medication error or a fall—both the patient and the caregiver can suffer emotional and physical harm, yet current safety systems barely acknowledge the caregiver's experience. This paper offers a framework to design support that protects both.

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