EUROCARERS-ASSOCIATION EUROPEENNE TRAVAILLANT AVEC ET POUR LES AIDANTS NON-PROFESSIONNELS

Their core work

Eurocarers is the European network representing informal (unpaid) carers and the organizations that support them. They contribute policy expertise and advocacy knowledge to EU research projects focused on ageing, mental health, and care systems. Their practical value lies in connecting researchers with real-world carer communities across Europe, providing access to policy networks and lived-experience data. They bridge the gap between health research and the millions of Europeans who provide unpaid care to family members or friends.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

All five of Eurocarers' H2020 projects started between 2018 and 2021, so the timeline is compressed. Their earlier projects (ME-WE, MATUROLIFE, ENTWINE, Homes4Life — all launching in 2018) span a broad range from young carers' mental health to smart textiles and housing certification. Their most recent project, ESCAPE (2021-2026), signals a clear pivot toward clinical integration — combining mental health treatment, multimorbidity management, and eHealth into structured care pathways. The trajectory moves from awareness and policy toward implementable, digitally-enabled care solutions.

Eurocarers is moving from broad advocacy into clinical and digital health projects, making them increasingly relevant for eHealth and integrated care consortia.

How they like to work

Eurocarers never coordinates — they join as a participant or third party in every project, typically contributing policy expertise, network access, and dissemination capacity rather than leading research. With 73 unique partners across 17 countries from just 5 projects, they operate in large, diverse consortia. This pattern suggests they are valued as a pan-European connector who brings legitimacy and access to carer communities, rather than as a technical research performer.

Broad European network spanning 73 partners across 17 countries from only 5 projects, indicating participation in large consortia with diverse membership. Their Brussels base and pan-European mandate give them reach well beyond Belgium.

What sets them apart

Eurocarers occupies a rare niche: they are the recognized European voice for informal carers, a population of over 100 million people largely invisible in health systems. For consortium builders, they offer something difficult to find elsewhere — direct access to carer policy networks across Europe and legitimacy when projects claim to address real carer needs. Their involvement signals to evaluators that a project genuinely engages the carer community rather than studying it from a distance.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ME-WE
  Largest single funding (EUR 232,560) and addresses an underserved group — adolescent young carers — making it distinctive in the health research landscape.
• ESCAPE
  Most recent and longest-running project (2021-2026), marking Eurocarers' entry into clinical biopsychosocial care pathways with strong keyword density around integrated care and eHealth.
• MATUROLIFE
  Unusual cross-sector reach: a manufacturing/textiles project (metallised fabrics for older people) showing Eurocarers can contribute user-perspective expertise outside pure health research.