Lanarkshire Carers Join University of Strathclyde to Shape Scotland’s Future Carer Insights Hub

Lanarkshire Carers recently supported Full Members and Board Members to attend the Collaborative Cultures Conference at the University of Strathclyde, an important milestone in a groundbreaking project that aims to build a Carer Insights Hub for Scotland. The Hub will connect carers, professionals, and researchers to improve understanding, shape better support, and ensure that future research truly reflects the lived experiences of unpaid carers.

The conference, hosted as part of Strathclyde’s Collaborative Cultures Programme funded by the Wellcome Trust’s Collaborative Cultures award, brought together carers, researchers and practitioners to explore how meaningful, long-term collaboration can influence real change in health and social care.

A key message throughout the day was clear: carer-led insight must shape future policy, research, and system redesign.

Kieren Egan, Senior Research Fellow in the Digital Health & Wellness Team at the University of Strathclyde, expressed his appreciation for the carers who attended:

“I just wanted to say thank you for everything yesterday... fantastic engagement and opportunity for new conversations and connections. It really wouldn't have been the same without the carers who attended.

We are seeing rapid change around available funding, carer roles, technology, research and practice. My hope is that research can build strong understanding, connection and evidence-based impact—but the best way to achieve this is sustained dialogue beyond individual projects.”

Lanarkshire Carers Board Member Colin Toal, who attended the event, further highlighted the value of involving carers at every stage:

“The respect in which I hold Full Members of Lanarkshire Carers was yet again enhanced by the active and engaging manner in which the team approached the entire event.

Kieren was consistent in his mantra that carers’ research is only credible if carers feel their concerns are legitimately recognised—that the research itself is not the end product, but the route through which change is affected.”

Carers involved in previous Lanarkshire Carers research echoed these views:

“Being part of a project that will help others in the future and make their caring roles easier and more sustainable is a privilege.”

“I know what I am giving my views and experience on just now won’t help me, but I am happy I will help another carer in the future.”

The conference forms part of the Future Hospital initiative, led by the University of Strathclyde in partnership with Glasgow Health & Social Care Partnership and Lanarkshire Carers. A co-designed national survey was created for unpaid carers and professionals across Scotland, marked the first step in developing long-term solutions to improve carers’ quality of life, training opportunities, financial support, and recognition.

More than 800,000 unpaid carers in Scotland support loved ones with illness, disability, or age-related frailty. Yet their voices often remain under-represented in research and decision-making.

John Connaghan, Research Assistant in the Digital Health & Wellness Team at the University of Strathclyde, emphasised the importance of changing this:

“This project is unique because it moves beyond the usual silos of knowledge to build a more sustainable and impactful way of working—one that truly values carers as equal partners in shaping the future.”

Insights from carers will inform workshops, focus groups, and pilot projects over the coming year, culminating in a set of national recommendations on how to support and sustain carer involvement in the future. 

Collaborative Cultures Conference