Integrating Young Carers in Health Services: Insights from the Field

Health and social service provision increasingly recognizes the central role of family care, yet young carers—including children under 18 and young adults aged 18–25 who provide essential support to family members—remain underrecognized in practice and policy. Despite a growing body of evidence relating to conditions where young carers are especially visible (e.g., families affected by early-onset dementia, ALS, or injuries within military and first responder communities), the specific needs and experiences of these young people are often overlooked. Within the broader movement toward person-centred, it is crucial to acknowledge and address the multidimensional contributions and perspectives of young carers, utilizing frameworks that place their needs, expectations, and values at the centre of care delivery. There remains limited integration of young carer identification and assessment in health systems and insufficient adaptation of services to reflect these principles.

Recent studies emphasize the vital importance of embedding young carers' voices and lived experiences in health systems that aspire to person-centeredness and patient partnership. The application of child- and family-centred frameworks, alongside emerging models of care grounded in patient and family experiences, has begun to inform practice and policy change in some settings. However, there are significant gaps in how concepts such as person-centred care are applied to research and interventions for young carers globally. Furthermore, there is a need for practical strategies that support collaborative, holistic, and inclusive integration of young carers into health and social services, ensuring their well-being, rights, and unique knowledge are acknowledged.

This Research Topic aims to advance understanding and implementation of person-centred approaches in the integration of young carers within health and social service systems worldwide. Submissions should not only explore the lived experiences, needs, and resources of young carers, but also explicitly articulate how person-centred theories, concepts, and frameworks inform research design, intervention development, and evaluation. Authors are encouraged to provide critical, reflective, and innovative contributions that demonstrate conceptual clarity as well as practical implications for policy and practice.

To gather further insights into these complex and intersecting issues, we invite research addressing young carers—including those under 18 and young adults aged 18–25—across diverse health, social, and cultural contexts. We particularly seek articles that:

o Critically examine the operationalization of person-centred frameworks in research and practice relating to young carers
o Present first-person accounts and case studies reflecting the lived experiences and impacts on both young carers and their care recipients
o Investigate tailored approaches for distinct populations, such as military, Indigenous, or culturally diverse communities
o Evaluate interventions and service adaptations supporting the health, development, and well-being of young carers within different care settings
o Explore innovative methods for identifying, assessing, and meaningfully involving young carers in clinical assessments, decision-making, and service development
o Examine policy, advocacy, and educational strategies to reduce inequalities and advance SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities)
o Define and measure "what good looks like" for young carers and their families using patient-centred outcomes and experiences

We especially encourage submissions using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, as well as critical reviews, process evaluations, conceptual papers, and interdisciplinary contributions that explicitly draw upon person-centred theories and models.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: youth caregivers, young carers, health services, support services

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.