YoungCarers@OL: Connecting, Empowering and Raising the Profile of Young (Adult) Carers is a project run by the Department of General Special Education; Rehabilitation & Health Care (ASR) at the University of Oldenburg. The City of Oldenburg, which is recognised as a health region, acts as the project’s sponsoring body. Funding is provided as part of the Lower Saxony Health Regions initiative.

What is it about?

In the Oldenburg model region/health region, the aim is to…

• raise awareness among regional stakeholders regarding young (adult) carers,
• networking and collaboration structures between institutions, organisations and facilities in the city of Oldenburg be made visible in the context of this group of people, and

• possible practical support structures be jointly developed and tested to meet the specific needs of all stakeholder groups.

Who are young (adult) carers?

Young (adult) carers are children, teenagers and young adults who regularly take on a high level of responsibility for family members with health impairments. The support they provide may include physical, emotional or medical-therapeutic activities; tasks both within and outside the home; looking after other healthy family members; and taking responsibility for themselves. In Germany, this group of people has so far remained largely overlooked, as much of the support they provide in everyday life is barely visible and is often not recognised as such, either within their personal circles or by professionals and the general public (Frech et al., 2019, p. 28). Taking on these tasks can involve various demands and stresses which, depending on the individual’s situation, may have an impact on their physical and psychosocial health. This highlights the importance of preventive, easily accessible and reliably available support structures (Nap et al., 2020).