A participatory scoping study of experiences of unpaid care giving among members of the ‘sandwich generation’ in Greater Manchester communities
This project is funded by the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC) Applied Health and Care Research Group, a joint initiative between MAHSC and NIHR ARC-GM.
What are we trying to do?
People who care for both older and younger family members, often called the ‘sandwich generation’, do much of the unpaid caregiving in England.
This project contributes important knowledge about the experiences of sandwich generation carers. It aims to unlock extra caring capacity for the NHS and future support for these carers and their communities.
Why is it important?
Sandwich generation carers are trying to balance competing expectations, needs, and demands which can negatively affect their health and wellbeing. Sandwich generation carers are often under-recognised and exist outside the usual support offered to carers.
Learning more about the challenges sandwich carers face is important to make sure their present and future health and wellbeing needs are being met. It is also important for the NHS because family care is an essential part of social and health care within Greater Manchester and nationally.
How are we doing it?
We are working together with our diverse community partners across Greater Manchester to get in touch with sandwich generation carers and we are having community conversations guided by our participants’ experiences. We will build on the early findings from the conversations by also doing more detailed one-to-one interviews.
We hope the study’s findings and recommendations will add to the knowledge that’s available on sandwich generation carers. We also hope it will begin the process of providing better support for this under-recognised group, especially for people from Greater Manchester’s diverse communities.
The research team
- Principal Investigator - Dr Susanne Langer (Manchester Metropolitan University)
- Dr Susanne Martikke, GMCVO, Manchester
- Prof Andrew Clark (University of Greenwich)
Who we are working with
- Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO)
- 10GM
- Gaddum
- The GM Older People’s Equality Panel
- Tameside, Oldham and Glossop Mind
Funding
This research project received an award of £35,365 from the 2024-2025 MAHSC Applied Health and Research Group.
Useful information
Contact information
Dr Susanne Langer
Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University
s.langer@mmu.ac.uk